RWBY: The Blessed RAEM
by tarious123
Summary: In the World of Remnant, darkness conquered every part of the globe filled with bloodshed. Sometimes, a little shower or rain is needed to wash away the darkness. Follow my team, RAEM(Rain) in their journey to self-enlightment and atonement while aiming to be the best Hunters and Huntress this world has ever seen. OC-insert.
1. Prologue

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

[Captions]

**Inner Voice**

**Chapter 0 Prologue**

* * *

[-R-AEM]  
Rain is a blessed shower, washing away of the sins and guilt of all. But sometimes, it just covers them up.

A young teen walked in the heavy rain, his feet splashing into many puddles within the misty forest. His face shadowed by a light-blue hood, showing only his mouth, a sapphire blue jacket left opened with the sleeves rolled up to just below his elbow over a white vest with black rims, black pants with blue flames design covering the left leg, black fingerless gloves and black boots. A white symbol of a spiral with lightning bolts spread like a star stamped on the back of the jacket, a white belt with a metal buckle with the same design engraved to the buckle and a katana with a plain light-blue handle and a silver cross-guard designed like a metal band an inch thick with a silver pommel in a grey-metallic sheathe with a tanto sheathed on its side tied on his left side, the smaller weapon having the same design on its plain white handle.

He carries on walking deeper into the forest as dark creatures, Beowolves start to come out from the shadows of the trees and within the mist. Their eyes glowing red as they slowly stalked the teen, he having no knowledge of their presence, deep in his thoughts of his mission as he soon arrives into a large clearing.

He then took notice of the large amount of Beowolves around him, they slowly ganging up on him with snarls and growls echoing among them.

"Huh… so there is a large amount of Grimm here…" He muttered, "No wonder the village is getting attacked all the time…" He rummaged his pockets and take out a piece of paper, "Let's see…"

The Beowolves launched themselves towards him, "Defeat the many Grimm in the forest. That's it then."

They slashes at him, only to slash the note instead, the ribbons of paper slowly dropped onto the wet ground. The teen is now in the air, the hood dropped off now revealing his golden-hued brown eyes and black well-maintained yet shaggy and spiky hair with a blue streak on one of his bangs. He smirked as he drops down, and smashing down his fist into the ground hard and creating a large shockwave that sends all of the creatures flying off.

The wolves around him growled and roared at him, he simply draws out his katana, revealing a sapphire blue blade, "Raine Aoi Sapphire, beginning mission!" He smirked as he launched himself at the Grimm, slicing the first of the Beowolves in front of him, as the rest of them charges at him.

He swings his sword and slicing the wolves one after another with precise and sharp swings, taking down one Beowolf with every step he took towards one as the blue blade spins around in the rain. One wolf slashes at him, only to have him dodge by ducking and turning around before stabbing his blade into its eye and penetrating its skull.

He pulls out his sword before he round house kicked another wolf away and slicing yet another down. He dodges under a slash, slashing at it and revealing another wolf coming at him. He reaches and draws out the tanto, and with one strong swing beheaded the wolf. Re-adjusting his grip on the dagger, revealing its darker blue blade, that extents to double its length and its handle on the pommel area extended slightly for easier gripping.

Seeing all the Beowolves coming closer, he readied himself again before launching forward at them. Dagger and sword working in harmony as their blades spun around in expert work cutting through Grimm after Grimm with every swing. One by one, the Beowolves are dropping dead. Raine stabbed both his blade into one of the creatures, swinging the dead body at a small group before rushing and cutting through them all in two swift cuts.

He looked around, noticing the remaining countless Beowolves now ganging up on him yet again with lack of any openings for him to exploit. Deciding to end it, he sheathes his sword, got into a drawing stance with his dagger still in his hand.

All of the Beowolves lunged at him, only for Raine drew his sword at blinding speeds. Rain is halted as countless of slashes are seen cutting through the air and cutting down the Beowolves, the dark creatures cutting down into smaller pieces with each slash. The rain restarted as the countless of Grimm dropped onto the wet ground, slowly dissipating into nothingness. He sheathes his sword and dagger, and walks off back where he came.

"Time to pick up the cash."

* * *

[R-A-EM]  
In this dirty world, there will be cleaners that clean up all the scum, by any means necessary.

A young girl stood on the rooftop of the large skyscraper, the broken moon shining down on the night sky. Her dark red shoulder-length hair fluttering in the wind as her blue eyes looked down on the buildings below her. A black sleeveless turtleneck with a white cross in the centre of her well-endowed chest under a scarlet red sleeveless jacket, two red detached sleeves with black rims around her forearms, a white short pants with a black belt and black stockings with white boots. In her hands, a scarlet sniper rifle with a cross insignia on the hand guard.

She took on a prone position, resting her gun on the ledge while she aimed at the apartment building opposite her. From her scope, she can see her target. One mob boss sitting down with two girls in both his arms and a smoking cigar in his hand, wearing a white dress shirt under a black blazer with black pants and black dress shoes. He laughed out loud as one of the hookers poured an alcoholic drink into his mug, then chugging it down with the two hookers clapping and cheering when he finished, giving out another laugh.

She took aim, the crosshairs of her scope aligning well to his head as she cocked her gun. As her hands steadied, she squeezed the trigger, sending the projectile flying. Thanks to the silencer on the end of the muzzle, only a slight pop was heard as the bullet flew towards its intended target. It whizzed through the air, smashing through the window and hitting its intended target, the metal projectile hits and pierces his skull, killing him instantly.

The girl cocked, discharging the smoking casing out as she saw the girls screaming in fear and panic due to their customer now dead slumping on the sofa. She pulls out her scroll and dialled in a number.

"Mission completed. Target Eliminated."

After reporting, she kept her scroll and slung her rifle over her shoulder and on her back, got up and walk towards the exit. It was then that the door was slammed right opened and a gang of man in black suits rushes out and surrounds her, pistols and rifles out aimed at her.

"Give it up, assassin! You're surrounded!"

"You will pay for killing the boss!"

She looks around her, unable to find any openings for her to take. She sighed, before raising her hands up as if in surrender. Some of the gang members lowered their guns, believing that they have won, and she took that chance. From within her sleeves, two pistols slides up into her hands and she pressed on the triggers rapidly, raining metal at them in machine gun rate fire and effectively killing several men in the front rows.

The white guns are small, semi-automatic pistols with the muzzle just half-inch from the trigger guard, a white cross on the back of the black handles and a cutlass guard on the handle from the butt of the gun to the trigger guard.

Taking into a dash, she punches the man in front of her in the face with the cutlass guard of her gun, knocking the first man out and causing panic among the remaining members. Using that confusion, she moves in and hit another man in the jaw. Going into a boxing momentum, she dashes forward and hits every man with each step she took, landing straight, hooks, uppercuts and side punching to her left and right, all the while firing rounds with each punch, knocking and killing every man in the vicinity.

Soon, more than half of the men are either dead or knocked out. One of the remaining man immediately realized who she is, "Y-You're…! Akai Scarlet!" She lands one knuckle to his face, knocking him out as well. The rest of the members took a step back, Akai looking at them with a glare and her gun ready for combat. From behind those people, two persons walks up to her, one male and one female.

The male is an orange haired man with a buzzcut with green eyes wearing a white jacket left opened up to show his chiselled abs, black pants with a white belt holding it up tucked inside white metallic boots, white metal gauntlets on his hands.

The female is a curvy woman with long orange hair with blue eyes wearing a blue shirt left opened to show her bandaged chest with white pants held up by a black belt and metallic high-heel boots, a sheathed katana with a red wrapped handle in a black sheathe in her hand.

"Time for our debut huh, Juno?" The man stated.

"Of course, Herx. Let's show her the strength of the Romanic Siblings." The woman said.

Akai unloads magazines from her pistols, two magazines slide out from inside her jacket and into her guns and she clocks them before taking aim and firing. The two dashes forward towards her, dodging the bullets left and right before Herx got close enough to slug her with a strong right. She rolled and dodges that strike, before taking a defensive stance and blocks all of the attacks that he threw at her. Juno took this chance and jump and slices down at her with her sword, Akai dodging it with a backflip.

She jumped forward and shot backwards, sending her flying in an arc before landing a two feet stomp to Herx face before tripping Juno and landing one right hook to her face, knocking her out. The man growled before shouting a battle cry and lunging at her, Akai leaped up high in the air while dodging him, twirling in the air as the moon illuminated on her before dropping down and knocking him out with hit to the head with her gun.

Her guns slides back into her sleeves, and pulls out her scroll and dials the same number as before.

"Need cleaners."

* * *

[RA-E-M]  
Justice and evil, sometimes they are as obvious as black and white. But sometimes, justice is just as evil and evil may be the one called justice.

Footsteps are heard, echoing down the corridor being lit up by small lights powered by small Dust crystals. A single male person runs down within that same dark corridor, his steps eradicate and his panting breaths with each step taken.

He possessed grey, almost white well-maintained yet spiky hair, a pair of fox ears sticking out of his head with brown-tips with sharp red eyes that looks like fox eyes. He wore an amber-coloured coat with a logo of a fox head with two arrows crossed behind it in black on the back over a white turtleneck and black pants with armoured breeches and boots combination, a grey belt around his waist that ties the coat around him while leaving it open. Two wakizashi swords with orange-brown gun handles strapped on both sides of his belt in their black sheathes.

His armoured boots making clinking sounds with every step he took. He got to the exit that enters in a large open area, large windows near the rooftop allowing sunlight to enter.

*CLICK*

At the entrance to said clearing, several men in white military vests with a panther logo with a claw mark behind it imprinted at the back and wearing white Grimm masks stood by and ready to fire their assault rifles at him. His red eyes scanned around the small army, seeing even turrets and miniguns are deployed against him.

"Ember Schutze! You are charged with the destruction of plans and blueprints of the most importance! Surrender now, and your sentence will be light!"

Ember sighed, "Sorry, but I have no plans of doing so. My brothers and sisters, I'm going to make things right, even if I have to kill all of you to do so." His hands grabbed onto one of his swords' handle, drawing it out in one swift movement, revealing the pistol guard that looks like a white 10mm Bren Ten pistol without its handle but kept the trigger guard with a black blade. Seeing the sword drawn, they started firing at him. Bullets rain down at him as he twist his body and swung his blade around, hitting away the bullets while dodging the one he couldn't hit away, before running forward and swishing left to right to dodge the Dust bullets.

Approaching the first person in front of him, he swings down and cuts the soldier down. The others quickly turn to aim at him, only for the fox boy to swings his sword at them before they could react, cutting down enemy after enemy within a rush of slices. Turrets starts firing down at him as he dodges and blocks off as many bullets as he can before running back a mile and switching his sword to its gun form, its blade slides within itself before turning and placing on top of the gun and its handle moves down to its proper position, and fires several shots at the people manning the turrets, killing them with shots to their head or through their eyes.

The ones holding on the miniguns starts firing and raining metal at him, Ember rushing forward dodging bullets and firing few precise shots and hitting their cables, putting them out of commission. In their own confusion and panic over their malfunctioning weapons, he used this opening to switch his weapon back to sword form and cuts them all down in fast pace.

The large area is now littered with bodies of the dead soldiers, all in their own pools of blood. He sheathes his sword and ran towards the exit as fast as he could, before he heard a gunshot and stopped in his tracks as a bullet hits close to his feet. At the entrance, there stood a brown-haired man with streaks on his many bangs, in a black trench coat with some design around the left shoulder area, black pants and shoes as well as a much more detailed version of the Grimm masks. In his hands is a chokuto with a back handle and red blade while pointing at him is a black rifle.

"Adam Taurus." Ember mutters as he drew out his sword.

"Ember, never thought that you would be the traitor." Adam said.

"Traitor? That's funny." He stated, "Isn't the real traitor this organisation? What happened to the peace-loving White Fang that I joined so long ago? I can't stomach this new White Fang, not anymore."

"What it has become, Ember, is more efficient!" Adam shouted, "We have accomplished what the old White Fang would have taken many decades within a few years!"

"Thought what? Fear?" Ember cried, "The White Fang isn't a terrorist group, Adam. We are supposed to bring peace and respect between humans and Faunus, not to get the latter feared to the other! I have seen what we have done. There has been no change at all, and those Faunus that didn't support our cause are discriminated and extorted even more thanks to us! The White Fang is the criminal, but they saw every Faunus as one of us!"

"Faunus who doesn't have the resolve deserve it." He stated, "Like you, Ember. Deserting the White Fang because you can't stomach it? You're a coward! In order to change the world, sacrifices must be made. You know that well, Ember."

"Shut up!" Ember shouted as he dashes towards him, his sword strikes down on the red blade, both weapons grinding on each other creating sparks.

Adam pushes him back, Ember skidding along the concrete before switching his weapon to gun form and starts shooting at him. Adam dodges left and right, avoiding bullets aimed at him, before swing his blade down at him, the fox Faunus blocked it with his weapon in mid transformation, just as its handle switches to its gun position and the blade is still on top of the barrel.

He draws out his other sword with his other hand, the same sword but with a white blade and black gun, and swings upwards at his opponent. Adam moves his head back, and his sword off the gun blade, to avoid the attack just as Ember slams his foot into his gut hard. The impact of the kick sends him flying across the room, the red haired teen skidded to a stop as he saw Ember standing there with both his swords out.

"White Mist and Dark Fog." Adam smirked, "Never thought I'll be facing those two one last time."

Ember dashes forward, his swords readied as he cross-slashed at Adam, the red haired teen blocked the attack with his sheathe. This was only the start as Ember unleashed a fury of slashes none stop at him, one sword clashing into the red sword one after another. Adam blocked and countered as much of the attacks as he could, both of them barely making any progress as both aren't wounded at all. With one last strike, the three swords clashed against each other hard, sparks flew with the three blades grinding at each other.

Ember pushes forward on the blade while he backflips over Adam, kicking him away at the same time. The red haired teen skidded to a stop, noticing that Ember is now at the exit with Dark Fog sheathed, and White Mist in gun form pointing at him.

"Sorry." He said as he fired, the dust bullet hitting one of the miniguns which is still laded with Dust ammunition, creating a large explosion that engulfed the entire area. He switched it back to its sword form and sheathed it, turned around and runs down the corridor.

* * *

[RAE-M-]  
The moon can be a charming mistress of the night, seducing everyone with its cool light.

A young lady stood in the middle of a large green plains, its green grass swaying in the wind all around her with the moon illuminating her pale skin. Her long silver hair flowing down around her and fluttering in the wind, her bright green eyes staring into the starry sky.

She wore a blue jacket over a white/light-blue kimono with white flower patterns around the skirt area that reaches to her knees and white boots with silver armoured breeches. A white flower accessory clipping part of her bangs to her right with a symbol of a five petal flower with a crescent moon under it, a silver bangle around her right hand with dark brown fingerless gloves.

"Lady Moon." A young man in a black suit greeted the girl, bowing in respect to her, "Lord Schnee wishes to speak with you."

"I'll be right there." She tells him, turning around to walk off. She then heard a slight rustle in the grass. Looking around, black creatures, Grimm as she recalled, rises out from the grass in forms that resembles lioness. These creatures were known as Leone, lion Grimm. They growled as several more rises up from the grass, only a handful but their size is something unordinary. Compared to normal lioness, Leone are twice as big with Sabertooth fangs.

The man in the suit stepped back a little, as he reaches for his gun in his blazer. The Leone senses this and dashes straight at him. Moon leaped forward and lands a kick on the creature, sending it flying off in a distance. "Go! Get to safety!"

"I can't leave you alone, Lady Moon!"

"This is nothing but a new training exercise." She tells him, pumping her fist out with the bangle extending to form a cylinder gauntlet that forms into a short silver bow, "Go!"

The man nodded before scrambling to get to safety as Moon pulls on her bowstring, an arrow of bright light-blue aura forms in between as she aimed at the Leone. They growled out and dashes towards her. She releases and the arrow shot through one's leg, pulling back again and fire, hitting another in the head.

Pull and release.

Pull and release.

The same process repeated for every arrow shot, each hitting different parts of each Leone. The head, front legs, hind legs, its torso, every area that are fatal were pierced through by the aura arrows. But due to the size of the small arrows it didn't do much against them, the Leone pack rushing towards her. She leaped over the first of the pack, her bow drawn and the aura arrow aimed at the head at point-blank, shooting through the head and killing it with ease.

With another, she ducked and slides under it, kicking it up into the air before leaping after it and carries on with a combo of a roundhouse kick, straight up kick, reverse roundhouse and a finisher of a heel drop on its head, sending it crashing down on another Leone. She twists her body to her upper body facing downwards, the broken moon illuminating her from behind as her bow aimed down with a white glyph appears near the arrow head. Releasing the bowstring, she released dozens of aura arrows down at them.

Most of them missed their targets, only a few hitting the Leone and killing them. Landing on her feet gracefully, she kicked away one Leone charging at her towards another and crashing it to each other, and fired her arrow straight through both of them. Seeing the steadily growing number of Leone, she changes her stance as glyphs appears near at the back of her ankles. With a leap, she flashes forward with a series of spinning kicks, low kicks, high kicks and several aerial and land combos.

Each hit at the strength of a full force hammer strike, she destroys the large pack through crushing their skulls, spines and their body in general. With a skid, she slides past them as they are sent flying, before raining down on the ground like a twisted form of rain. All the bodies slowly dissipates into black wisps of darkness, except for one that struggles to get back up.

Moon sighed in relief as her bow-gauntlet collapsed back into its bangle mode as she stretches out her arm and back, "That was quite a workout~" She groaned out in bliss with a slight pop from her shoulder joints.

She didn't sense the last Leone creeping up on her, before baring its fangs and leaping towards her with its jaws wide opened.

*SHINK*

A flash was heard, a straight cut through the dark creature splitting it in half down the middle. Moon caught by surprise as she saw the dead body of the Leone passes by her from behind, turning around to meet her saviour.

Right there, stood a boy around her age with black shaggy and spiky hair with a blue streak on one of his bangs, gold-hued brown eyes and wearing a sapphire blue jacket with a light-blue hood with its sleeves pulled up to just below his elbows with black fingerless gloves, a white vest with black rims under it with black pants with blue fire pattern going up the left leg. In his hand is a sword, a katana with a sapphire blue blade with a silver metal band for a guard and silver pommel that he is sheathing into its mechanical sheathe that seems to have a tanto as part of it.

"You alright, Milady?" He smiled.

"Why… Yes, I am." Moon giggled, "Thank you, Sir Knight."

"Knight? No, no, no…" He smirked, "I'm more of a Robin Hood myself. Name's Raine Aoi Sapphire."

"I'm Moon Bellflower Schnee, heiress of the Bellflower Arms Production." She greeted, "Well, Mr Robin Hood, may I ask of you to escort to my home?"

"If that is what you wish." He bowed in grace to her, the broken moon shining down on them.

* * *

Four souls, each of their own special past and wishes. Their lives, very different from one another, and very different in heart. But what they did not know is that their fate are crossing and gathered at one path, that one path that might be their greatest desire, or their greatest nightmare. They are in a story that will play out their lives, in a world filled with darkness, and they will be the cleansing rain that washes away the darkness in this dark, bleak world.

Welcome, dear readers, to the world of Remnant.

_End of Prologue._

**There, prologue completed! This is a project  
that I have been wanting to do for a while  
now. The RWBY series, as good as it is for  
an indie animated series, has its flaws. So,  
I decided to mix up the series a little with  
my own twist.**

**This is merely a prologue for the greater  
story, and I will begin on the first chapter  
as soon I am able.**

**Finally, I decided to make this a story that  
I will use not just my own, but several other  
OCs that you can provide. That's right, I'm  
inviting you to enter this world with me, on  
my journey with my characters.**

**Now, before you can bombard me with  
characters, I'm going to let you people know  
that I can't include every OC you sent, so  
I'm limiting it to eight characters, two teams  
that can make up these two anagrams:**

**BLAZ**

**LIGT**

**This is the template for the OCs:**

**Name: [Must include a colour, or something that represents a colour]**

**Race: [Human or Faunus. If Faunus, what type?]**

**Age: [Must be at least 17]**

**Gender: [Male or Female]**

**Semblance: [A special skill unique to that character. But mustn't be godly like time-control or creating something out of nothing.]**

**Weapon Type: [Mash up between a firearm and a traditional weapon, or just a slightly modified weapon. If a mash up weapon, describes how each transformation looks like.]**

**Birthplace: [Vale, Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo, or some other village you can come up with.]**

**Personality: [How does your OC behave under certain circumstances? Stereotypes are welcome.]**

**History: [Summary of their past, struggles and loss if any. But nothing Mary-Sue or Gary-Stu.]**

**Character Traits: [What makes them special from the others? Any distinctive traits that pushes them, clothing or physical, eye colour, hair colour?]**

**That is that. Please PM me or place it at the review, either way works.**

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**


	2. Chapter 1

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

**Chapter 1 Arriving**

* * *

In the airship flying over the great City of Vale, there are plenty of people, most of them in their late teens all talking to each other with a few standing by themselves looking out the window to see the view. One of them is a young man standing near the quiet corner of the ship with a young red haired lady in Greek styled outfit with armour of the same style, "There's a lot of people…" She muttered.

"Calm down, Pyrrha." He tells her, "I thought you will be used to large crowds by now."

"Just shut it, Raine. You're not helping." She groaned.

"Hey, I'm just saying that considering your own reputation, you should get used to the attention." He added, "If you didn't want the attention, you could do what I did and quit during semi-finals. No one really asked you to be the champion of the Mistral Tournament for the past four years."

"I know, but they had such high hopes on me so…"

Raine sighed, "Then get used to it, my friend." He pats her on the back, "A LOT of people is going to take notice to you. After all, you are the strongest among Mistral, ON RECORD anyway."

"What does that supposed to mean?"

"Admit it, if you and I fought, I would win hands-down!"

"Cocky idiot." She chuckled as she lightly punched him by his biceps, "Say, I have been wondering. Why do you always forfeit in the semi-finals?"

"I got bored." He stated out, "The people there are often too easy to beat."

"That's what you say about everyone in Sanctum." Pyrrha states out.

"That's truth." He chuckled, "For I am awesome!"

She sighed, "I'm surprised that you and I are friends this long…"

"It just shows how friendly of a person I am~!" He laughed.

They stopped talking when Glynda Goodwitch, one of the teachers at Beacon, appeared via a hologram, "Hello, and welcome to Beacon. I'm Glynda Goodwitch." The rest of the speech was silent out for Raine as he knew what she was saying. 'Man she sure talks a lot…'

"Raine, are you paying attention?" Pyrrha asked.

"Oh, it's the same thing my brother told me she would say when he first attended here." Raine groaned, "Blah blah blah, prestigious school, blah blah blah, lucky few, blah blah blah, great potential, blah blah blah, training and knowledge." They then noticed a blonde haired teen running around while gagging and holding his mouth. "Looks like someone is a little sick."

"I guess airships aren't for everyone." Pyrrha said.

Raine walked up to him with a paper bag in his hand, "Here." He hand the paper bag over and the blonde took it before puking out his entire meal into it. "Man you have it bad."

"Y-Yeah…"

"So… my name's Raine." He said, "Raine Aoi Sapphire."

"Ja- BLAH!" He vomits one last time into the paper bag, "Jaune Arc…"

"Nice to meet you, Jaune." He greeted as Pyrrha walks up to them, "Oh, this is Pyrrha Nikos."

"Hi Jaune."

"Nice to meet you…" He groaned.

"…" Raine looked between Pyrrha and Jaune for a while, "…So… nothing else to say…?"

"Um… is there any?" He asked.

"What? No autograph? No fanboying?" Raine asked.

"Raine, I don't think fanboying is a word." Pyrrha said.

Jaune blinked, confused, "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah there is! You!" Raine cried, "I'm surprised that someone is able to meet Pyrrha and not freak out or get nervous!"

"Why would I do that?"

"…Do you know about the Mistral Tournament?" Raine questioned.

"Never heard of it."

"Sanctum?"

"What's that?"

Raine face-palmed so hard, "I have never seen someone who is aiming to become a Hunter that is this stupid."

"Hey!"

* * *

The airship landed down at the platform as everyone exited, that including one girl that walked out into the campus, her eyes looking around examining the large main building in front of her. "What a big place…" She muttered. She then noticed a young girl getting scolded by an older girl in white, Weiss Schnee if she recalled properly from her research.

She then notices the Dust that she is recklessly sprinkling around by shaking the bottle in her hand and are coagulating around the younger girl in red, Ruby Rose if she remembered, and the reaction she is giving is predicable, "Uh oh…" She muttered as she witness her sneeze with a large explosion of fire, ice and some electricity. That caused a glass flask of red dust to fly out of her hands and rolled away, landing by the feet of a black haired girl with a black bow reading a book.

"Unbelievable!" Weiss groaned as she shook the soot off of her, "This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!"

"I-I'm sorry…" Ruby apologized playing with her index fingers.

"You complete dolt! What are you even doing here?-! Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?" She cried out.

"W-Well… I…"

"This isn't you ordinary combat school. This is more than just sparring and practice, you know. We're here to fight monsters, so watch where you're going!"

"Hey, I say I was sorry, _princess_."

"It's heiress actually." The black haired girl walked up to them holding onto the red dust flask, "Weiss Schnee, heir to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy repellent in the world."

"Finally, some recognition!"

"The same company infamous for its controversial labour force and questionable business partners."

"W-What, how dare-! The nerve of-!" Weiss growled.

"I can testified for that." The girl that looking on decided to step up and speak, "I has intel on some of the clients your family's company supplied and they are not much on the legal firms. If I were you, I would try and fix those problems before asking for any recognition from anyone."

Weiss let out a huff in anger as she snatched the flask away from her hands and stomps off, her servants picking up the luggage toppled on the floor, "I-I promise I'll make this up for you!" Ruby cried out before letting out sigh, "I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day… So, what's-"

The black girl is walking away, the other girl too walking away in the opposite direction. She sighed as she collapsed down on the floor, "Welcome to Beacon…"

"So, she's a champion to a large tournament that take place every year that involves every would-be Hunter and Huntress in Mistral four times in a row?"

"Yup, so she is quite famous."

"And she is one on the cover of the-"

"You know, that cereal isn't that good at all. They are just using her as a mascot to boost their sales."

"Come on, it's not that bad."

Footsteps are heard as a shadow cover over Ruby, Raine looking down at her with a hand out, "You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, thanks." She accepted his out reached hand as she stood back up.

"I'm Raine." He greeted as his two friends walked up to them, "These guys are Jaune and Pyrrha."

"Hey." Jaune greeted.

"A pleasure to meet you." Pyrrha greeted.

"Ruby. T-That's my name…" Ruby stuttered before pointing at Jaune, "Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"

Raine roared out in laughter while Pyrrha chuckled into her palm, "Good…HAHAHA… job… Jaune. You are famous now…!"

"It's not funny!"

"You're right, it is hilarious!"

* * *

At another platform near the back of the campus, another airship docking down, this one with the famous flower insignia of one of the biggest independent arms producer in the world, the Bellflower Arms Production. As its doors opened, out walked its heiress, Moon Schnee Bellflower. Her face stoic as she steps off the ship and enter campus grounds, a green cape on her shoulders with a logo of the BAP on it and a brown suitcase.

"I wish you the best of luck, Miss." Her butler said.

"Thank you, Jacob." She said, "Tell mother I'll miss her."

"I will, Miss." He bowed in respect before the door closes as the ship starts to take off. As soon as the ship is out of sight however, Moon groaned in relief as she took off the cape from her shoulders and stuff into her suitcase, "Stupid father, making me wear this stupid cape…"

'So…' She looked over at the campus, 'this is Beacon… it is bigger than I thought… The same school that mother has attended…'

*THUD*

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard a sound, turning to the source to see a teen with the whitest of hairs she has seen, even from her mother's side of the family, with two fox ears perched on top, the teen on the ground lying on the stomach.

"Owowow… shouldn't have stowaway on the ship…" He groaned as he got up rubbing his head in pain patting off the dirt from his pants and coat. He looked up to face Moon, "Hi."

"…Where did you come from…?"

"Oh, I leaped from that Bellflower airship." He stated, "You're a Bellflower, right? Let me guess, Moon Schnee Bellflower?"

'…How did someone managed to stowaway in a Bellflower airship? Our security is really tight these days, especially after that White Fang terrorist attack on one of our cargo trains…'

"Tight, yeah. Even the top elite bodyguards are people, your highness. There is a loophole during the exchanging of shifts between your guards and I snuck in from there." He tells her as he notices the shocked look on her face, "By the way, no, I'm not reading your mind, it is your face that is easily readable."

She blinked, before muttering about rewriting some of the guard's pay-check for the next month and stupid Faunus and their good eye-sights. "Listen here!" She stepped forward towards him right in his face, "You are to never tell anyone of my heritage to anyone! I don't want people to think I'm special because of my family! If you even hint it to anyone, I'll castrate you, got that!"

"O-Okay, I got it!" He cried.

"Good!" She smiled as she stepped back, "Your name?"

"…Ember… Schutze…" He stated.

"Well, Ember, you are now my escort for today." She huffed, "Direct me to the briefing place at once, if you be so kind."

"Eh? Why do I-?-!"

"C-A-S-T-R-A-T-E~"

"Gulp…" Ember nodded before walking forward with Moon in tow, "Whatever you say, princess…"

* * *

At another part of the campus, four friends are now walking along the path hoping to find the hall where they were supposed to be, "Look, all I'm saying is that motion-sickness is a much more common problem than people let on." Jaune said.

"Look, I'm sorry! Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind." Ruby giggled.

"Oh yeah, how about I call you Crater Face?"

"Wait, that was you?" Raine asked.

"Hey, that's an explosion was an accident!" Ruby cried.

"Well, the name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue, the ladies love it!" Jaune said boastfully.

"Does it?" Raine asked Pyrrha, who shrugged her shoulders.

"They will! Well, I-I hope they will. My mom always says that… never mind…"

"Yeah, yeah, mommy's boy." Raine sighed, Pyrrha giggled a little hurting his self-esteem a little more.

"…So… I got this thing!" Ruby said as she pulls out the case on her back and transforming it into a large red mechanical scythe.

"Whoa!" Jaune cried stepping back in shock, "Is… that a scythe?"

"It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!" She giggled.

"A wha…?"

"It's a gun, doofus." Raine said, "Honestly, there's a limit of how little you know as a Hunter. Do you even passed the entrance exam to get here?"

"O-Of course I did!" Jaune cried.

"So… what've you got?" Ruby asked curiously.

"Oh! I uh…" Jaune pulls out his sword, a really simple-looking sword, "I got this sword…"

"Oooooh!"

"Yeah, and I got a shield too!" The blonde said as he picked up his sheathe, before it expands on its side to become a shield on his left arm.

"So, what do they do?" Ruby touched the shield and accidentally caused it to retract in shocking Jaune as he fumbled around with the shield-sheathe switching back and forth before finally picking it back up on the ground, "T-The shield gets smaller," he retract it back into a sheathe, "so when I get tired of carrying it, I can just… put it away…"

"But… won't it weight the same?"

"Yeah, it does…" Jaune groaned dejectedly.

"On the bright side, if you need to defend yourself quickly, you can pull out the shield first before drawing out your sword." Raine said.

"If you put it that way…" Jaune muttered.

"Well, I'm a dork when it comes to weapons, so I guess I did go a little overboard when designing it." Ruby giggled.

"Wait – You _made_ that?-!"

"Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons!" Ruby stated, "Didn't you make yours?"

"It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war." Jaune explained.

"Wait, that sword is that old?" Raine blinked before sheathing the sword out and looking out at blade with a careful eye, "Hm… the sword is pretty well-maintained… and it is not rusty at all… not a single ounce of it on the blade. What metal is the blade made from…?"

"Um… Raine?" Jaune blinked, "You okay?"

"He gets really interested in antique swords." Pyrrha explained, "Even in Sanctum, he is considered a sword geek."

"Hey, swords are amazing, you know!" Raine shouted, "They are one of the earliest weapon used by a Hunter and Huntress! Each one is forged by hand through countless weeks and days of endless work! To even make a decent looking blade, it takes years of practice and teachings from a master! It is truly an art form in sharp metal form!"

"Y-Yeah…" Ruby muttered, 'Is this how I looked like to Yang…?'

"Anyhow, this sword is remarkable!" Raine stated, "You are lucky to have that sword."

"T-Thanks, I guess…?"

"Say, why did you help me back there? In the courtyard?" Ruby asked.

"Eh, why not?" Raine stated, "It's my nature to help people in front of me. Also, it was drilled in to me by my sister."

"Oh… Hey, where are we going?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know, I'm just following Jaune."

"W-Well, I'm just following Ruby… Y-You think there might be a directory? Maybe a food court? Some kind of recognizable landmark? Is, uh… that a no?"

"That's a no." Ruby giggled.

"Pyrrha?"

"I think I might have an idea."

* * *

They finally arrived at the school auditorium, it filled to the brim with the freshmen that arrived. Yang, Ruby's older sister, the blonde hair chick waiting for her sister to arrive looked around anxiously, then notices Ruby walking in with two guys and a girl, "Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!"

"Oh! Hey, I-I gotta go!" Ruby tells them as she ran off to her sister, "See you after the ceremony!"

"Hey, wait!" Jaune then sighed, "Ah great, where am I supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?-!"

"Ahem." Raine coughed, getting his attention as he pointed at Pyrrha while looking at him annoyed.

"Oh, yeah…"

"Anyway… I wonder when Ozpin is going to come and give his speech…" Raine muttered, "If it's anything my brother has told me…"

"You keep saying your brother, so is he studying in Beacon too?" Jaune asked.

"Ah, yeah. He should be in his third year now."

"What is he like?"

"Just a typical big brother." Raine said, "Although, he is pretty skilled with a sword, along with his mechanical arm, it is a pretty deadly combination."

"Mechanical… arm…?" Jaune blinked.

"Yeah, a left robotic arm. He lost his left arm due to… certain circumstances that I wish not to tell." He muttered, "Anyway, his arm can contain different dust cartridges of almost all kinds, plus he is considered one of the strongest swordsman in Vale. Plus with his semblance, which I can't say because I really can't understand how it do that thing which is really amazing by the way it is really cool-looking but I'm getting way off topic, then again he is considered one of the strongest student in Beacon in general with his team which consists of a girl with a furry fetish, a dude who enjoys being in a robotic armour which shoots laser out of his palms, and a girl with a large personality shift. Say, did I mentioned that he is currently on a mission that's why he's not here at the moment?"

"…Whoa…" Jaune said, Pyrrha looking at him blinking in confusion.

They stopped talking as Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon, walks up to the microphone with Glynda Goodwitch beside him, "I'll… keep this brief. You have all travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time in this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you, to take the first step."

He stepped back to let Glynda speak, "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

"He… seems rather… bland…" Pyrrha stated, "Like he is reading from a script."

"Maybe because he is." Raine stated, "Bro told me Ozpin gives the same speech to every freshmen before their initiation test."

"Did he also tell you about what the test is?" Jaune asked hopefully.

"Sorry, but no." Raine sighed, "He stated that every year the test is different. His test was wasting hundreds of drones without getting taken out by one and making to the exit point with his partner and teammates. Oh, he did mentioned something about teams being issued during the test as well."

"That's… really impressive…" Jaune blinked.

"They issued the teams during the test?" Pyrrha asked.

"I'm not sure myself." He sighed, "Buuuuuut," Raine smirked as he wrapped his arm around Jaune pulling him closer, "we get to see all the girls in their sleepwear~ Pretty goodwill from Glynda Goodwitch, huh?"

"Eh?"

"Hey, why don't we camp near the woman changing room and sneak a peek?" Raine chuckled, "I bet there are some hot chicks with a greater figure than Pyrrha here! Or maybe you prefer the smaller bust camp?"

"Are you seriously having such a conversation in front of me, a girl?" Pyrrha asked, obviously annoyed.

"Hey, I nearly saw you half-naked all the time back in Sanctum."

"You… did?"

"Yeah, she and I sleep in the same dorm room. She is hot and all, but she is a bit too buff for my taste." Raine tells the blonde, "If you are _interested_… I can give you her bust size if you want."

"H-How do you know that?-!"

"My chick-vision~!" Raine formed a hole with his index finger and thumb and putting in front of his eyes.

"…"

"…"

"…Bad joke?" Raine chuckled dryly, "Honestly, I just peeked at your medical records you left on your bed back in Sanctum."

"You did?-!"

* * *

Night has fallen at Beacon Academy, every student now has changed into their sleepwear in preparation for the night. The male and female area are separated out and each are putting down their respective sleeping gear getting ready to sleep. Moon too is getting ready to sleep, in her green night gown and rolling out a sleeping bag. 'Good thing I changed the sleeping bag that father puts in.'

She then notices Ember walking away towards the exit in his sleepwear that consists of his normal outfit without the orange coat. Curious, she follows him out to the courtyard but lost sight of him, 'Where did he…?'

"What do you want, princess?"

The voice heard out from above her, the man sitting on top of one of the branches of the tree outside, his eyes seemly glowing a little as he looked down at her. "How did you see me? It is nearly pitch-dark out here."

"…Are you dumb?"

"H-How rude!" Moon cried out.

"All Faunus has night-vision, allowing us to see in the dark better than a normal human can." Ember explained, "Plus, your white hair is kind of a dead giveaway."

"Your hair is just as white!" Moon cried, "Anyway, what are you doing out here?"

"I prefer to sleep in the open." He states, "The ballroom doesn't fit well with me."

"Ha… So you're like a wild animal." Moon giggled.

"Hey, that's pretty rude yourself." Ember states angrily, "Never, I repeat, never address a Faunus to be an animal, directly or indirectly, joking or not."

"O-Oh, I'm truly sorry." She apologized.

"Just don't make the same mistake again with other Faunus." He said as he lie down on the branch with great balance and closed to his eyes to doze off. He opened one eye, noticing Moon is still standing at the base of the tree looking up at him, "What is it?"

"Ah, no. It's just that… well…" Moon muttered, "I'm making sure you don't spill the beans, that's all!"

"Princess, there is no one outside here besides us. There is no way me saying that you are the heiress of the BAP is going to be heard by anyo-"

"Heiress?"

They stopped, turning to face a teen with spiky green hair and slightly pale skin with emerald green eyes, him wearing a black t-shirt and dark grey jeans with green sneakers. A silver wrist band on his right forearm and a green pendant with a black cord around his neck. Her face blinked as he saw them looking at him.

"Evening." He greeted.

"…what did you hear?" Moon asked.

"You being the heiress to the BAP?" He said with a grin and a nonchalant look in his eyes, "Other than that, nothing, really."

"…" Ember blinked before sighing, "Sorry."

"Sorry?-! That's all you have to say?-!" She cried before pointing at him, "And you there! You are to speak to no one about this! If you do, I'll make sure you suffer worse than the dog here."

"Hey! I'm a fox! Different species!"

"If that's what you want, I won't say anything." He said, "It's not my right to reveal one's secret to anyone."

"Well… aren't you a gentlemen?" Moon smiled.

"Not really." He stated, "I'm Leaf Forrest."

"Moon, Moon Bellflower Schnee." She introduced herself.

"Ember Schutze." He tells him, "So, since we're in the same boat now, how about we go to sleep?"

"Very well then." Moon said, "Come on, Leaf." She turned to return back to the ballroom, Leaf standing there looking at Ember.

"You coming?"

"Nah, I'll sleep out here." He tells him.

"Oh, sure." The green haired teen walked back with Moon, "So, is he like your secret boyfriend or something?"

"W-What?-! No!" Moon cried, "I'm just making sure he doesn't spill my secret to anyone!"

"Ah…" Leaf nodded in understanding, "So a crush."

"No!"

* * *

Inside the ballroom, in the male changing room, Raine is facing one particular problem with a certain blonde, "Jaune, for the love of Remnant, please change out of that… that monstrosity…"

"What? It's my favourite."

"It's a feetie pyjamas. Only infants wear those!" He cried, "And are those bunny slippers? Seriously, if you are going to have any chance of making any friends here, you got to get rid of that!"

"Come on! It's not that bad." Jaune cried.

"It is hideous!" Raine groaned, before taking out a white t-shirt and a pair of blue shorts, "Just… wear this."

Jaune grumbled before taking the clothes and proceeds to change out of it, "I'm keeping the bunny slippers!"

"That's enough, as long as you trash that horrible excuse of a pyjamas." Raine said as he took off his vest. The blonde looked over, seeing a claw scar over his back, "W-What's with…?"

"Hm?" He notices his look to his back, "Oh, that. It's an old scar. Nearly got killed by a Beowolf when I was nine. It's a pretty boring incident really. Me and my friend went to find a clue about her missing mother's whereabouts and got attacked by Grimm. I tried to protect her, getting this and blacking out. If weren't for her uncle and my brother showing up, we would have died then."

"Wow… that's really… horrible…" Jaune said.

"It's a thing of the past, really." Raine tells him, "It doesn't really bother me anymore."

After finally changing into their proper night wear, Raine now wearing a black t-shirt with white track pants, they went to their respective areas where their sleeping bags are, "Say, do you remember where your locker is?"

"Um…"

"It's next to mine." Raine said before looking over, noticing Ruby with her sister talking to a black haired girl in a black yukata, "Hey, isn't that Ruby?"

"Yeah." Jaune looked over, "Isn't that the girl that was waving at Ruby in the auditorium?"

"Yeah, and man, now that I looked closely, she is HOT!" Raine said drooling slightly, "Looks at those hills! They are practically mountains! And that hip! That butt!"

"Raine, I get it, she is gorgeous." Jaune groaned.

"But…" Raine muttered, "Why does she looked so familiar…?"

"Hey! Move it!"

"Make me, short-stuff!"

They then notices a group of students crowding around a shorter teen with messy bright orange hair that has a bright red feather braided into his. Brown eyes in a wild feral look that stare into the other taller than his with an x-shaped scar on his cheek, a pink rat tail at the base of his spine. "That is my spot!"

"So what?" One of the student chuckled, "Don't you animals sleep everywhere? Why not get out and sleep outside, like the animals you are!"

"Hey!" The shorter teen shouted angrily, "Faunus are people too!"

"As if, animal."

He growled before launching himself at one of them, only to be stopped by a single finger by the taller freshmen with his friends chuckling and laughing at how he is struggling and swinging his arms out at him. "What's the matter, short-stuff? Too big for you?"

"When I get my hands on you…!"

"Hey!" They stopped with their messing with the shorter kid as Raine walked up to them with a stern look on his face, Jaune following behind, "Don't you think that's enough? Just leave the kid alone."

"I'm seventeen!"

"Oh, sorry."

"Get lost, nosy guy." He tells him, "We are just teaching this animal manners and to prove that we are the superior race."

"There isn't a superior race." Raine tells them, "We are all in equal standings. And," He stepped in and grabbed the bully's hand by the wrist and brought it up, "I have a real distaste for bullies." He smashes the bully's head in with a strong right fist, followed by a swing kick to his gut that sends him skidding onto the ground hard.

The rest all rushes at him only for Raine to backhand one of them and lends a left straight punch to another, followed by another backhand at the last one. They fell onto their ground hard, the bully leader getting stepped on by him, "Leave."

They all starts to get up on their feet just as Raine kicked their leader to them who crashes into them hard, picking up their leader before walking off grumbling about hero-wannabe. "You okay?"

"Hey, I got him, you know!" He shouted angrily.

"A simple thank you is enough, you know." Jaune said.

"Yeah yeah…" He muttered angrily, "Thanks anyway! Name's Torque Holstein!"

"Raine." He greeted, "And the blonde is Jaune."

"Hey." Jaune greeted.

"You are pretty cool!" Torque shouted, "You took out those people like they were nothing!"

"I've never liked Faunus racists." Raine stated, "But I'm surprised. Despite being that size, you managed to pass the entrance exam."

"Heh! I may be small, but I kickass!" The rat Faunus said proudly, "Raine, Jaune, it is a pleasure to meet you all! Hey, maybe we should be on the same team! That would be awesome! Ooh! Like your hair! How did you dye your hair like that?"

"Oh, it's a simple job of precision." Raine stated.

"Okay, good night!" Torque said before rushing to his sleeping bag before diving straight in. Light snoring can be heard already.

"To bed?" Raine asked.

"To bed." Jaune said as they walked back to their spot among the guys, "You think that the exam is anything like what your brother tell you to be?"

"Think so." Raine stated.

"I was afraid of that…"

"Well, at least it would be interesting."

…

* * *

_To be continued…_

**Hey! First chapter! How are you all doing?-!**

**First, I like to thank everyone for their OCs  
that you have sent through the PMs! Right now,  
I've chosen two for one team, LIGT. There are  
plenty of different OCs for me to choose, some  
even looks really interesting that I might  
change some of the letters in my other team.**

**But for now, I'll be waiting.**

**Here are the two authors and their OCs:**

**Ogrespi: Torque Holstein  
BlackNaito: Leaf Forrest**

**Congrats! Your characters are now part of  
RAEM! I still left six spots for all of you, but  
only one L spot remaining.**

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**

L**IG**T

**BLAZ**


	3. Chapter 2

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

**Chapter 2 Initiation: Emerald Forest**

In the ballroom, Raine slowly stirred up from his sleep. Waking up, he looked over at his scroll, finding the time to be 5 in the morning with Jaune snoring slightly beside him, along with several of the people in the large room.

'Well, I could use some practice before the initiation…'

He quickly sneaked out of his spot and with a change of clothes head to the changing room. Quietly returning to his spot, he took out a wooden katana handle and left as quietly as he could and out of the room.

* * *

Akai is looking over the very forest that she has found out to be the place of the initiation exam. She spied through her scope of her sniper rifle on the cliff side overlooking the forest, as she saw several camera bots are being deployed into the large forest, as well as the placing of what she assumes to be chess pieces at a shrine.

"What are you up to, Ozpin…?" She muttered.

"Oh, hey!"

She flinched as she heard a voice behind her, turning to find a black haired teen with a single blue streak on one of his bangs. He was wearing a white vest with black rims and black pants and boots, blue flame pattern covering his left leg and in his hand is a wooden katana handle.

"…" She kept quiet and looked back at the forest still trying to look over to see any additional info she can dig up.

"…Morning to you too…" Raine grumbled as he turned back not to bother her. He swings the handle, a wooden blade extended out from the handle to match the length of his own sword, as he proceeds to practice some sword stances and strikes.

The huffs and sounds that he was making with his swings are annoying Akai a lot, she feeling her veins pulsating on her face. "Look, can you please practice elsewhere?" She asked in the most polite tone she can come up with.

"Oh, now she speaks!" He said in mock amazement, "So, I'm Raine. What's your name?"

"…Akai." She said before turning back to her scope.

"What you're looking at?" Raine asked, the girl groaned in annoyance.

"None of your business." She growled at him, "Now leave!"

Raine shrugged as he left her alone. Sighing in relief that now he is gone, Akai returned to scouting out the forest.

…

…

…

"Anything interesting-"

"GAH!"

Akai jumped to her side in shock as Raine reappears on her left looking at the forest curiously, "Didn't I tell you to leave?-!"

"Well, I was curious." Raine said, "So…" He peered over the forest, "Anything?"

"…None I will tell you." She tells him angrily as she carries on to look over the forest trying to find anything that she can use for the exam to her advantage.

"Well, you should know that we will be issued to teams of four for the four school years. So, you might end up in a team with someone like me!" He tells her, "Best if you get along with most people as you can!"

"I know." Akai tells Raine, "Even so, I will be just a support to my team regardless. I'll just provide cover fire for them from afar."

"Kind of obvious, with that rifle." He said pointing at her sniper rifle, "Still, quite surprised that someone planning to be a Huntress to use something like a sniper rifle."

She sighed angrily as she packed up her rifle and walks off, "Hey! Come on, let's talk some more!" He called out to her, she carries on walking never looking back at him. "Talk about anti-social…" He grumbled.

* * *

Now at the breakfast table, everyone is eating their breakfast provided by the cooks at the cafeteria. Moon too is eating her morning meal, biting into the pieces of pancakes while her thoughts brought back to Ember, the said teen too eating in front of her but having some eggs and bacon instead.

"You know, I won't say a word, and I doubt Leaf will say anything." He tells her, "He's too much of an honourable person."

"What are you implying?" She asked.

"That you don't have to stalk me." He said, "I swear by my ears that no one will find out about your lineage."

"So… you don't like my company…?"

Ember flinched at the slightly hurt tone of her voice. He sneak a glance at her, Moon's eyes looking rather sad and lonely. He remembered how she seems to try and fit in with the other first years, but no one else seems to want to talk to her at all.

He then recalled her appearance, she looked quite like a member of the Schnee noble family which is true from one side of her family and such treated as such.

A person who strives for perfection in everything they do, even their own comrades.

Ember sighed a bit, "No… that's not what I meant…" He tells her, "I said you don't have to stalk me, I never said I dislike your presence." He reaches his hand out for her, "Let's start over, as friends."

She blinked, before taking the hand and shaking it, "…Very well…"

Ember smiled as he took back his hands and carries with his meal, Moon did same thing as she took another piece of pancake into her mouth.

"GAAHHH!-!"

She nearly choked on that bite when she heard him scream out in pain. Looking back up, she saw a small young teen pulling onto his ears hard, the boy having a rat tail swishing around by the area of his tailbone. "Um…?"

"L-Let go!" Ember cried out as he tries to swat the boy off him, the rat kid not letting go while laughing heartily. "You'll literally pull my ears off!"

"Wow…! They feel so fluffy!" The boy laughed, "What are you? A dog? A wolf?"

"I'M A FOX!"

"Oooooohhhh!"

"Not oh! Get off of me!" Ember growled out as he swings the smaller teen around trying to get him off of him while he laughed loudly, "LET! GO!"

He managed to throw him off of his head, the rat boy lands on to Moon's lap. She looks down at the boy, he looking nothing higher than an average middle-schooler, and now looking at her and her hair, "Wow! You have pretty hair!"

"T-Thank you…" Moon blinked at he looked at him, the boy's eyes shimmering bright in innocence and wild looking at the same time.

"The name's Torque! Nice to meet you!" He laughed.

"W-Well… nice to meet you too, Torque." She greeted politely, "I'm Moon, this guy is Ember."

"Never! Pull my ears. Ever!" Ember shouted angrily.

"Sure!" He shouted out, "So, what do you think the teams are handed out? I think it would be awesome with it is decided by a large wheel of choices!"

"I'm pretty sure the teams aren't that random…" She tells the shorter teen.

"Oh! Oh! Maybe we are to pull numbers and are paired like that!" Torque said, "Or, we are put into a large bingo machine and we are pooped out of the machine and paired!"

"I don't see how that is possible…" Ember stated out.

"Oh! I got another one! We are thrown into the large forest and the person we land next to is our partners!"

Ember face-palmed, "That's the most stupidest idea I have heard…"

"Hey." They are greeted by Leaf, the teen placing down his plate of pancakes with box of juice next to Ember and started eating, now donning a green hooded jacket over his shirt.

"H-Hey." The fox teen greeted back.

"Hiya!" Torque greeted him with vigor.

"So, who's the rat kid?" He asked, the rat Faunus growled angrily, "What?"

"I'm not a kid! I'm the same age as you all!" Torque shouted, "Name's Torque!"

Leaf blinked, "Oh. So you're not that student that skipped two years? Oh, and I'm Leaf."

"Oh, there is one like that?" Ember asked.

"Yeah. Apparently he or she foiled a robbery attempt by Roman Torchwick, impressing Headmaster Ozpin so skipping two years to attend Beacon." He tells him, "Also, I have heard that both the Schnee and Bellflower heiresses are attending this year as well."

This causes Moon and Ember to flinched, Torque looked at them confused. Leaf simply chuckled that their reaction before returning to his meal, "Oh yeah, I have heard that a member of Hunter clan is attending here too, and another one is enrolling here."

"Hunter clan?" Torque asked, confused.

"Huh, never think that one will enrol with us." Ember stated.

* * *

After finishing their meal, they went to their respective lockers that were issued yesterday for their weapons. "Leaf, what is this Hunter Clan that you spoke of?" Torque asked as he ties his weapon around his waist, a copper-brown meteor hammer with its chains around him like a belt and its weight the size of basketballs dangling by his sides.

Leaf took out his weapon, a greatsword with a blade that is half black and half white with a circular black guard and white hilt, and slung it on his back, "It is a sect situated east of Mistral, in a village that was as old as Remnant has been." He explains to him, "Its members are considered to be the strongest of the Hunters and Huntresses in history, their family are consists of legends."

"Wow!" Torque jumped up and down with excitement, "They sound amazing!"

"They are, and that they are also well-known to be swordsmiths, ones that are able to forge out pure Dust blades." He added, "Blades made out of only Dust. No metal in them, it is pure dust."

"They are so cool!" The rat Faunus cheered in awe as they walked past Raine, who is taking out his katana from his locker.

The katana user then heard his blonde friend grumbling out, "Ridiculous! There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday! I would've remembered counting that high!"

"I did told you." Raine said as he saw Jaune opening the locker next to his.

He then heard Pyrrha talking to another girl, he noticing the white hair and outfit along with the SDC logo on the back of her blouse, "So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on? I'm sure EVERYONE must be eager to unite with such a STRONG, WELL-KNOWN individual such as yourself!" Weiss said.

'I guess even a member of the Schnee noble family can be a foot-licker.' Raine thought annoyingly.

"Hmm… I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may." Pyrrha stated.

"Well… I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together." Weiss stated.

"Well, that sounds grand." She replied.

"Great!"

"You know what's great also?" Raine interrupted them by popping over, "Me! I'm sure people will love THE Raine Aoi Sapphire, don't you think?"

"And WHO are you?" Weiss asked.

"Hey, Raine." Pyrrha greeted.

"Hey Pyrrha." He greeted, as he stood in front of Weiss, "So, snow princess. Wouldn't someone like ME be a better choice than Pyrrha?"

"YOU? Better than THE Pyrrha Nikos?" Weiss said, slightly annoyed by his actions, "Do you even know WHO she is?"

"Four times champion of the annual Mistral Region Tournament and SECOND top graduate of Sanctum, why?"

"Second?" Pyrrha asked sceptical, "Remind me, who did that award goes to?"

"Hey, on record you are top graduate." Raine tells her, "Besides, we both know I'm the better of the pair."

"Cocky, aren't you?" Weiss said,

"I prefer the term, Confident." Raine smirked, not noticing Pyrrha changing her sword into its spear form and tossing it, sending Raine flying over and pinning him onto his own locker with Jaune looking stunned at the incident, "Damn it, Pyrrha!"

_*Ding-dong* Would all first-years students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately._

Weiss and Pyrrha walked passed him after hearing the announcement, the red-head taking her spear and dropping Raine down, "Seriously, will you even learn?" She asked as she walked off.

"Never will." Raine joked as he got up on his feet.

"Does this happened often?" Jaune asked.

"Almost every day back in Sanctum." He chuckled as he brushes off the imaginary dust from his pants. They will then greeted by Ruby and Yang walking up to them.

"So, tough luck there, lady-killer?" Yang joked.

"Oh please, she is not my type." Raine chuckled, "I'm just making sure Pyrrha doesn't get used again."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked curiously.

"I know an ulterior motive when I see one." He stated, "That Schnee chick is just going to use Pyrrha as a way to get to the top quicker. Being in a team with her is like have a direct train ride to stardom. Then again, she doesn't know the downside of it."

"How can there be a downside?" Jaune asked.

"Let's see… Confession letters… Crazy stalkers… Even crazier fanboys and girls, don't ask… Dealing with angry and jealous stares from every, and I mean EVERY, student in the vicinity… you know, I could list down a lot but it would take too long." Raine tells the blonde boy.

"Jeez… Just hearing about the stalkers is scary enough…" He muttered sheepishly.

* * *

The large group of first years all arrived at Beacon Cliff, the same cliff that Akai was scouting over the forest below. They are stood on silver tiles in front of Headmaster Ozpin, holding a mug which Ember guess is filled with coffee, with Glynda Goodwitch watching over with her tablet.

Ember took another sniff in the air.

He definitely can smell the caffeine.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors." Ozpin spoke to them, "And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda stepped forward, "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumours about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates. TODAY."

Raine blinked at this, 'That was really fast…'

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here in Beacon." Ozpin added, "So, it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."

"Huh…"

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"WHAT?-!" Raine and Ruby cried out.

"Yeah! I was right!" Torque cheered.

"I can't believe that rat kid guessed correctly…" Ember groaned out.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest." The headmaster continued, "You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you WILL die."

Jaune gulped quite loudly.

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene." He added, "You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and returned to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

"Yeah, um, sir…"

"Good! Now, take your positions."

All the students took into their positions, some into a ready stance, some readied their weapons. Raine simply stood readied with his smaller sword drawn in its knife form, before it extended into its short sword form. Torque bent his knees slightly with an excited look on his face, Leaf simply stood readied with his hand poised for his sword, Ember draws out Dark Fog in its sword form and held in a reverse grip, Moon placed her right leg out while her left is bent slightly, Akai brought her twin pistols out and got ready.

Jaune, on the other hand, is have his hand up trying to ask a question, "Uh… sir…?"

One by one the students are launched off of the platform, Weiss was launched next.

"I-I've got a question."

"YAHOO!" Torque cheered as he was sent flying into the sky laughing.

"So this… landing strategy thing…"

Akai launched off.

"Uh, w-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?"

Another group slung off into the forest.

"No, you will be falling." Ozpin replied.

Leaf launched off while somersaulting into the air.

"Oh, uh, I see… did you, like, hand out parachutes for us?" Jaune asked.

Moon launched off as she soars through the sky.

"No. You will be using your own 'Landing Strategy'." Ozpin replied.

"See ya!" Raine was launched off, making a mock salute to Ruby and Yang as he flew off.

"Uh-huh… Yeah…"

Ember groaned as he launched off into air.

"So, what exactly is a landing strategy-yyyy!-!" The blonde finally is launched off, screaming his lungs out. Ozpin chuckled slightly as he took a sip from his mug.

* * *

"WOOOOOOOOOOO!-!" Torque cheered out loud as he flew across the sky, unravelling his weapon from his waist and slams one weight of his meteor hammer into a tree, locking it onto the trunk as he swings down onto the ground, before pulling out the weight and rolling onto the grass.

"YEAH! LET'S DO THAT AGAIN!"

His outburst can be heard from the ones still in the air as they soar over him, Moon somersaulted in the air before a white flower glyph appears under her and she jumped up. She swings out her right arm, a stack of glyphs appears leaping down, the girl dropping through them while slowing down to a near halt and she lands onto the grass with grace.

When she stood up, Ember just then descended down from the tree, stabbing his gun-sword into the trunk of the tree and skidding down. He then leaped off the tree, landing down right in front of her.

"Ooookay…" Ember blinked, "Does fate wants us to be together or what?"

"Are you… flirting with me…?" Moon blinked.

"What? No!" Ember cried, "That's the last thing in my mind for that!"

Leaf soared over the forest before he opened up his palm, green spectral form of a chain with a claw hook that he swings down at the tree. It catches the trunk as he swings down and spins on the tree branch before landing down on the branch.

He then witness a spear sent flying over him and impaling something, only for that something to groan out ouch.

"I'm sorry!"

"Thank you!"

Leaf chuckled, "Looks like someone is having fun."

Raine swings his blade around as he crashes through the forest, cutting through the trees like butter before he speeds up slightly while leaving behind a series of after-images and skids across the grass before sliding to a stop.

"That went better than expected…" He muttered as he sheathes down his sword. He looked around, before pointing at a random direction, "This way." And walks off in said direction.

* * *

Akai, landing on a nearby branch, now have her sniper rifle out and scouting over the forest. 'Now… where is that temple…?'

The scope looked around the forest, noticing Ruby with Weiss and the heiress seems to be dragging away the younger girl. She looked to another location which have Ren walking around aimlessly. She turn to another location, where Pyrrha is pulling Jaune free from her spear.

She looked over to another area where Nora is running around shouting out Ren's name. She then looked over to where Torque is walking around swinging his weapon aimlessly. Another area with Leaf coming down from the trees.

She then saw it, the temple where she saw the staff place down the relics. "There you are."

Akai puts down her rifle, just as Raine is leaning over her with a pranking smile, "Sup!" That startled her as she nearly dropped her rifle in shock but manages to pull out her gun from her sleeve and pointed at him.

"Whoa! Peace! I come in peace!" He said raising up his hand in mock surrender.

"How did you find me?" She questioned in an annoyed tone.

"I got lost, so I decided to try climbing a tree." He stated, "I only found you by chance." She pushes her gun closer to his face, "Honest! I wasn't stalking you! Even if you have the figure and chest of a goddess!"

Akai groaned as she withdrew her gun into her sleeve, slung her rifle onto her back and leaped down. "Hey!" Raine cried as he jumps down after her, the girl now walking away with him trying to catch up to her, "Come on! We are partners now! We need to stick together!"

"Then find another partner. I am not going to team up with someone like you." She muttered.

"What do mean by that?-!" He said rather offended.

"You act like a jester, like the entire Hunter job is a joke to you." Akai said stopping in front of him, "This isn't some normal mercenary job. There are chances that we might die in the line of work, more than any other protectors of this world."

"I know, but that doesn't mean you have to be serious all the time." Raine stated, "Lighten up! You need some fun in your life. Think of it like a game!"

"This. Is NOT! A! GAME!" She shouted at him.

His eyes darted to the right, signalling her to do the same. They looked around, now noticing the red eyes of Beowolves that are slowly emerging from the bushes. The large pack surrounds them with large growls echoing among them.

"Think this is a game, now?" Akai asked Raine as she took out her twin pistols.

"Yup! This is just the first wave!" He drew out his katana and tanto which extends to a short sword, "Come on!"

* * *

Leaf walks around, trying to find anyone. He looked all around, enjoying the tranquillity for the forest. "Maybe a quick nap first." He muttered as he leaned down on the root of a tree. He closed his eyes and took a snooze.

When he falls asleep, slight rustle is heard from the bushes and the trees, as Beowolves slowly descended from the trees and rise up from the bushes. Their growls are soft, as they slowly approached the sleeping teen with hostile intentions. One of them couldn't wait anymore and launched itself at him with jaws wide open.

Leaf's hand opened up with his palm facing them as five green spectral knives shots out, impaling five of the Beowolves in the chest and effectively killing them. "I can't even sleep in peace here…" He yawned as he opened up both his hands, now green spectral twin Uzi pistols appeared in a flash of green light and starts firing continuously at the pack of Grimm.

The bullet rain effectively killing the large pack with ease. He dispelled the guns with a tired sigh before several more Beowolves landed down in front of him roaring out at him. "Oh, come on now…" He groaned as he drew out his sword. With a kick, he hits the first Beowolf away from him. When another launches himself at him, he swings his sword fast, cutting down it down before charging at the rest.

His blade swings fast as he decapitated majority of the pack, his black and white sword moving in speeds that are nearly impossible for a sword that big. He ducks under one Beowolf launching over at him, before he split it in two wielding both in his hands. Swinging the black and white swords back and forth, he cuts down more Beowolves.

He connects the hilts together, forming a dual ended sword that he spun around with one hand while making some amazing acrobatic moves which moves the spinning dual-ended weapon around him with relative ease, cutting down the remaining Beowolves. He ended the combo, one of his knee on the ground in a crouching position.

"That take cares of everyone…" He said as he separated his blades and re-merge them into its great-sword form.

He slung it back on his back, before he saw what seems to be a portal appears above him. Then a person leaped through and lands onto him. "That hurts…" He muttered.

Looking up, he then was greeted by violet eyes from a rather cute face. She blinked before leaping off of him in startled. Leaf took a good look from her, her having short white hair with dark purple tips and a small but rather petite figure. She could easily be placed as a loli character from a visual novel game he has back home.

She wore white zipless hoodie-like armour with a type of white metal plated in a scaly pattern with occasional black and brown scale on her back, over a black v neck shirt lined with white as well as white shorts and knee-length white boots, piece of folded equipment on her back.

He then notices a short stubby cat tail protruding from her tail bone, 'A Faunus, huh…?'

She bowed in apology, before walking off. Leaf got back up, before following her down the same path. She then stopped, her face morphed into a slight annoyance, "May I help you?" She asked.

"No need." Leaf said, "I'm just following my partner."

"Partner…?" She looked at him sceptical.

"Hey, remember what Ozpin said?" Leaf stated, she scrunched her eyebrows thinking, before remembering and nodding, "Well, we are partners now."

"Indeed…" She muttered, before looking him with a nervous face, "I-I-I'm… Ivory Runie. But you can call me Ivy, or cat-shit, or…"

"Leaf." He greeted before he carries on walking while Ivy decided to follow him now.

"Um… do you know where the relic is?" She asked.

"Not sure." He said, "Do you, Ivy?"

She stopped in her tracks, "Ivy…" Leaf stopped as well, looking at her curiously. "You called me… Ivy…" She muttered.

"Um, yeah?" Leaf confused, "That's your name, right?"

"No human has said my name before…" She muttered, "Not without an insult, or some degrading stuff…"

Leaf frowned, knowing what she is talking about, "Relax, I'm not one of those Faunus racist assholes." He tells her as he carries on walking forward, "I know a couple Faunus friends myself."

"I-I see…" Ivy muttered following him.

* * *

Elsewhere, Torque groaned out in annoyance as he smashes down another Ursa with his meteor hammer. "Come on! I'm so bored!" He shouted, "This test is dumb! I don't even know where I am anymore!"

He looked to his side, "Oh! A butterfly!" He chases after it excitedly.

…

_To be continued…_

* * *

**You know… now that I have read it back again,  
I really enjoy writing Torque character. He is basically is  
the male version of Nora, only high on sugar and  
caffeine with a dash of violent tenacity.**

**Yeah… So I have chosen a few more OCs  
that you all have sent me. Here are the few  
I have chosen since the last chapter:**

**Ivory Runie: Reykis  
Brock Gishen: V God22  
Lloyd Grane: BloodStarGeneral  
Alter Topaz Netherwood: Demonfox25**

**Now, there are left if the spots for the  
G and Z. For those who have submitted  
your entries but never got selected for  
the spot you desired, don't worry. They  
will be used in later chapters. Some of  
these characters are too interesting to  
not use.**

**I will start with the third chapter soon as  
I am able, which is… I'm not sure.**

**And another thing, when submitting  
your character sheets, please be clear  
on how your OC's weapon operate if it  
is a mashed-up weapon. Otherwise, I would  
just made up a way.**

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**

LI**G**T

BLA**Z**


	4. Chapter 3

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

* * *

**Chapter 3 Initiation: Epic Battle**

On the cliff, Ozpin looks over at the forest with the mug of coffee in his hand and his scroll opened to show some of the students' accomplishments. At the same time, Glynda Goodwitch walks up to him with a tablet in her hand showing the similar videos.

"Almost all the pairs have been formed, sir." Glynda said as she taps onto her screen. The image of Torque chasing a butterfly appears on it, "I'm still surprised that that young boy passed the entrance examination with ease."

"I believe that he is seventeen this year." Ozpin tells her.

"Oh, my mistake." She said before looking back at the rat Faunus.

* * *

Back in the forest, Torque is still chasing the butterfly as it flew around the forest. It was then that a large Ursa jumped out of the bushes with a loud roar, this action caused it to step onto the butterfly, killing the insect. The rat Faunus looked in horror of the death of his new friend, "You'll pay for this!" He growled out as he swings out his twin meteor hammers.

The large bear roared out before lunging at him, Torque leaped over it with much agility before slamming one of his weights down on it hard. Knocking it out slightly, he swings again using the other ball with even greater force that crushes the bear's skull which kills it instantly. He lands down on his feet as he spins his two weights before twisting the chains around his waist.

He was then greeted by several Beowolves coming out of the bushes and a few Ursas coming out as well. "Yeah! More things to play with!" He said happily while he pulls out his weapon out yet again, swinging both weights. With a click of a button, he smashes and grinds the weights on the ground hard creating sparks, igniting the weights in flames. "Let's play!" He smirked as he smashes the weights around, taking out several black wolves with a single swing.

The other Grimms looked at him and charged forward with fangs and claws out stretched at him. Torque smirked as he leaped up into the air, floating slightly above them with his weights floating weightlessly beside him. He cheered as he plummets onto one of the Grimms hard on the back, creating a crater with its body. He followed with another large swing that took out another group of Grimm before swinging the chains around and bringing the one of the weights down, smashing the ground and creating a shockwave that brought up dust clouds around him.

He proceeds to push the weight out through the dust cloud like a large spinning flame bullet, smashing through several Grimms bodies like punching through paper. The rat Faunus leaped out of the dust cloud with a crazy grin and followed by a pull of the chains that caused the flaming weights to smash through the rest of the monsters. With a loud "YAHOO!", he swings them round and round non-stop till he pulls up the chains and pulls the Grimms up and down into the ground hard, creating a large crater on impact.

"Whew! That was fun!" Torque said swiping a sweat off his forehead, "Let's do that again!" He didn't notice a large Ursa that he missed rushing up to him with a growl with full intent of killing the Faunus.

It didn't get a chance to do so.

It was stopped at its tracks as two blades slices through it like a hot knife through butter. As the corpse of the creature dropped onto the ground with a thud that alerted the shorter boy, he turned around to meet a male teen looking at him.

He has smooth black hair with some of his bangs combed over his left eye with ice-blue eyes and pale skin. He wore a black hooded trench coat with the hood currently up covering his head slightly, a grey t-shirt with black cargo pants with a steel chain hanging from his right pocket and black boots with armoured toes, a long grey scarf wrapped around his neck and covering his mouth. A symbol of two crossed scimitars surrounding by a ring of fire and lightning imprinted on his shirt.

In his hands are two short spears, steel rods with jagged scimitar-like blades with small hinges half way down the dull edge of the blade at the end, with one with a red-tinted edge and the other golden tinted. A gun trigger is seen five inches below each blade, indicating that it has more than one form.

"Hey! I got dibs on that one!" Torque whined.

"Sorry, I didn't know that you can 'call dibs' for Grimms." The teen stated as he connects his two weapons into a single dual edged spear.

"Well, you can!" He stated angrily.

"Whatever you say, kid." The hooded teen said putting his weapon on his back, "I suggest you leave this forest at once. You're not going to be so lucky a second time."

"I'm not a kid!" Torque said angrily, "And don't you dare call me short either! I'm still growing!" During that rant, the hooded teen already walked a considerable distance away from him, "Hey! I'm still talking, you know!" The rat Faunus shouted in rage as he rushed after him, standing in front of him with an angry frown.

"Look, kid. I'm rather busy, so leave and drink your mother's milk or something." He stated annoyingly.

"Stop calling me kid!" Torque shouted at him, "I'm a would-be student of Beacon, and future world famous Hunter!"

"Beacon?" The teen said in rather surprise, "So, you're one of the examinees too."

"That's right!" The shorter boy stated with pride, "You too, huh? Looks like we are partners! Name's Torque! What's yours?"

"I see no need to tell you." The hooded boy stated as he carries on walking.

"Hey! We're teammates now, so it is only right to know each other's name!" The rat Faunus stated, "So, what's yours?"

"…" The taller male groaned in annoyance, "…Gamma…"

"Gamma? What a weird name."

"Like yours is any better."

Torque then run passed him and waved back at him, "Come on! We have a relic to find!" He shouted before running forward, "Oh! A dragonfly!" and then getting distracted by another insect. Gamma groaned at the thought of surviving the rest of his school life with someone like him.

"Torque, this way." He stated as he pulls his partner by his overalls in another direction.

* * *

In another part of Emerald Forest, a large pack of Beowolves are getting slaughtered by two prominent figures. Raine smirked as he slices down another Beowolf with his blue katana, before turning around and slices another with his shorter blade. Akai fired countless of Dust ammunition from her twin pistols, taking down many of the dark creatures.

One of them got behind her ready to strike her down, she swings her arm and smashes the butt of her pistol at it, smashing its face in before firing at close range effectively killing it. Akai then leaped up into the air and fired countless rounds in multitude of directions, killing many Grimms around her.

The rounds, however, nearly hit Raine as he dodges and evades most of the bullets awkwardly in many weird poses, "Hey! Watch where you're shooting!" He shouted before slicing another Beowolf.

"Tch, he dodged them…"

"I heard that!"

The two carries on with their onslaught against the hordes of Grimm ready to kill them. Raine swiftly dashes forward and slashes through the large hordes, slicing down all of them with his blades. That ended the entire extermination with them as the countless bodies of the dark creatures slowly dissipates into wisps of shadows.

"That's all of them." Raine said as he sheathes both his blades, "Hey, I got at least twenty. How much you got?"

"…This isn't a game, you know." Akai growled as she holsters her guns into her sleeves and walks off angrily.

"I know, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun while doing it." He chuckled following his partner, "You need to lighten up, you know."

She turned to him with an angry gaze, "Lighten up? Like I said, there are chances that you might die here, higher than any other jobs in the Kingdoms! If you aren't careful, you could be in the grave the next day."

"But we're both alive, right?" Raine said smiling, "Than it is no problem. If we die while on the job, that's that." The girl growled even worse as she bore holes in his head with her eyes, he ignoring her completely before looking at the right, "Oh, there's something." He said as he ran towards the ruins he saw just now.

She followed him, surprised that they have arrived here already. Although, there are two pairs that have arrived, one that consists of Ember and Moon, the other with Leaf and Ivy. The cat girl flinched at the sight of two more people as she stepped back a little more from them.

"Hey there." Ember said as he looked at the two that just arrived. The boy waved at him with enthusiasm struck to the Faunus as odd, as the way he is running shows little wasted movement compared to most of the people that has enrolled here.

It means two things: one is that he is well-trained since young, two that he has plenty of experience compared to anyone here.

"Greetings." Moon greeted with a slight bow, just as she realised the familiar face, "Raine Aoi Sapphire?"

"You know him?" Ember asked.

"Sup!" Raine greeted, "My name's Raine. And this broody person behind me is Akai."

"Why did you introduce me?" Akai asked angrily.

"I'm Ember, this is Moon." The fox Faunus introduced.

"Leaf," Leaf introduced, "and the girl is Ivy."

"I-It's a pleasure to meet you." Ivy stuttered.

Raine then noticed the chess pieces on the pedestals, few missing already. Some are coloured black, the rest is coloured white. He then took notice that in Ember's hand is a white queen piece, while in Leaf's hand is a white king. "Ah, I get it now!" He nodded in understanding.

"Get what?" Akai asked annoyingly, the rest all looking at him curiously.

"How they plan to issue us into teams!" He tells them, "Two pairs with the same pieces are placed together into Teams of four. That explains the exam."

"So, the relics are what places us in teams…?" Moon stated.

"Pretty good plan, if you ask me." Leaf stated.

"If that's the case…" Akai looked over to the pieces on the pedestals.

They then heard a cheer as well as a scream, then saw a round weight flying out of the forest and falling in an arc towards them. It is accompanied with a series of chains that soon linked up to another weight with two people holding on to it for dear life diving down. They then crash onto the ground hard, kicking up quite a dust cloud.

"Did they…?" Ivy asked looking at Leaf, the teen nodded stiffly.

"That is one crazy move." Raine stated, Akai nodded in agreement.

Out of the dust cloud, two figures stood up, one short and one tall. "Yeah! Greatest. Ride. Ever!" One of them shouted, the cloud dissipating revealing Torque and Gamma, the hooded warrior groaned as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Why did I agree to let you do that…?" He groaned.

"Oh!" Torque then notices the chess pieces on the pedestals, then run over to the white king piece, "From here forth, I shall be known as King Torque! The new Ruler of all of Remnant!"

"…" They all looked at the shorter teen with either a deadpanned face or an amused one.

"Oh yeah, I brought friends as well." He added, just as loud screech is heard, followed by a large black spider creature with a white Grimm mask on it, red marks on its back and bone-like fang on its legs. "An Arachne?-!" Ember cried.

It was later followed by a two large black birds with white masks on their faces soaring down at them, "And Nevermores?-!" Leaf cried.

"Move people, move!" Raine called out as they ran out of the ruins of the temple, the spider taking a leap over it and carries on running after them. One of the Nevermore has moved away from the group while the other kept on chasing them.

"Do any of you have a plan?-!" Moon asked.

"Working on it!" Raine shouting.

"How in Monty Oum did you two attract two of the largest and dangerous Grimms in this forest?-!" Ember called out to them.

"It was a large and epic fight-" Torque began before Gamma interrupted him.

"We passed them by and Torque thought it was a good idea to try and tame them." He said.

"Wha…?"

"Hey, don't interrupt people's conversation!" Torque shouted angrily.

"We need to separate the two!" Leaf called out, "That way, we might have a chance!"

"Quick question, did the rest of you gotten a chess piece?" Akai asked.

"Got one!" Raine tells her with a white queen piece in his hand.

"H-How?-!" She cried.

"Snatched it just as the Arachne arrived." He said, "But then this is settled! Ember, Moon, Akai and me will handle the Nevermore! Leaf, you, Ivy, Gamma and Torque will take down the Arachne! After that, rendezvous at the cliffs!"

"Very well!" Leaf called back before sighing on how much a pain this is now.

"Who made you the leader?-!" Akai shouted.

"It doesn't matter at this point!" Ember shouted as he and Moon run up to the pair, "On my mark, separate!" They all nodded as they form in their respective teams, "Now!" With that, they branches off in two separate directions.

Unfortunately, both Grimms chases after Leaf's team much to their shock, "Shit, this isn't good!" Leaf cried out.

"I'm borrowing this!" Raine called out he took the sniper rifle off of Akai's back and took aim while ignoring her cries on how rude he is and demanding the return of her weapon. A well-placed shot fired onto the Nevermore's back hard, causing it to turn and face them.

"Move it!" He shouted to them as he tosses back the rifle to Akai and they start to sprint off into the forest.

* * *

The large bird screeched as it launched a barrage of black feathers at them, the four swiftly maneuverer out of their paths while dodging the several trees that have toppled over due to the attack, "Over there!" He called out as they changed direction.

They ended up going to a large ridge opposite of a large cliff overlooking an equally large ravine with the Nevermore now closer to ground-level thanks to the lack of trees in the area they are running to. "Great! A dead end!" Ember groaned.

"Any bright ideas, _leader_?" Akai asked angrily.

"I have one." Raine smirked as he run towards the ridge, shocking everyone as he leaped off. As if nearing his demise, he reacted fast as his body sped up with literal afterimages of his movement of him pulling out his sword and stabbing it onto the rocky cliff before he swings up and landed on his handle.

The others then noticed the Nevermore dashing towards them and dodged the charge of the large bird as it flew downwards towards Raine in the ravine. He saw it and stepping on the ground, he pulled hard of his sword and leaped off the wall, cartwheeling slightly as the large bird dived just passed him. He then sped himself up as more afterimages of his movements are seen as he grabbed onto the bird's back tightly.

The rest all looked down at the ravine in shock of his supposed death, before the Nevermore flew out of the ravine with Raine hanging on the large bird, "Guys, get to the top of the cliff! At least we have a vantage point there! I'll try and keep it distracted!" He then proceeds to slash down at the back of the bird, not to any avail as the feathers are tough as nails.

"Raine!" Moon called out.

"Moon, think you can create platforms for all of us?" Ember asked.

The archer nodded as she swings her hand with her index and middle finger pointing out, white glyphs appears and formed into a series of platforms that are of a sensible distance for them to jump. Everyone took to a sprint as they jumped up and onto the platforms one at a time, Moon leaping up higher with additional glyphs while Ember leaped through the platform with just well-performed wall jump and Akai took it to using her pistols to give an additional boost to her leaps.

Within moments, they all arrived onto the top of the cliff, Raine still struggling with the large beast as the Nevermore struggles its body around to get him off its back. He saw his teammates now on the cliff and took a running start as he sped up and leaped off the Nevermore and lands with a roll next to them.

**(Play MGR: Revengeance: Rules of Nature)**

The large bird screeches at them as it flaps its wings ready to shoot its feathers yet again, "Flank it!" Raine called out as he drew out his second sword, Ember pulled out his two swords switching to gun mode, Akai pulls out her sniper rifle and Moon extends out her bow bracelet. The gun wielders fired their rounds at the large bird while Moon released aura arrow after another in rapid succession and Raine charging his sword and swings his blade at it releasing aura sword waves in forms of crescents.

The projectiles all hitting the bird hard but was just able to stopped it from releasing a storm of feathers at them, and it retaliated by charging down at them with a loud screech as it charges at them, they barely got out of the way of its attack as it swoops up and starts to circle around them, "It's skin is too tough!" Akai called out.

"Maybe so. But it is not invulnerable." Ember said.

"I got an idea, but I need time to-" Raine tells them.

"On it." The fox Faunus switches his weapons to sword mode and dashes straight at the bird.

* * *

Meanwhile, down at near the ridge, a large screech is heard as the Arachne jumps out through the forest with Torque on it, he slamming his flaming weapons down at the large spider continuously. Leaf and Gamma ran beside it as they swung their dual weapons at the large creature hoping to scratch it at all.

Ivy teleports out from a portal in front of it with her sniper rifle chainsaw hybrid as she swings down with the spinning blades grinding down on the armoured body, not denting at all. It screeches out as it leaps off the ground towards the ridge with Torque and Ivy on it, "Go!" The girl tells the rat Faunus as they ran off the creature and lands onto the ridge.

The Arachne lands onto the cliff walls, crawling on the rocky surface before jumping down at them with its fangs out and landing onto Ivy, "Ivy!" Leaf called out in shock as the spider threatens to bite her face off, the only thing keeping it is her chainsaw gun, before she teleports through a portal under her and through another above it and aimed her gun at it and fired, the bullet hitting the armoured body hard knocking it down slightly.

Ivy then teleports herself to near Leaf, "The joints." She panted, "They aren't protected."

"Got it!" He nodded as he ran forward with his dual bladed sword mode and threw it spinning at the spider, cutting through the joint on four of its legs, "Ivy!" He called out, the Lynx Faunus nodded as she created two portals, one at where the sword is spinning to and another to just above it. The blade goes through it and stabs into the back of the spider hard, the Arachne screeching out in pain.

"Torque, flip it!" He shouted as he produced and swings out a green chain that wrapped around his weapon, just as Torque runs to the side and swings his weapon across the ground with a battle cry, creating a groove in the ground with the flaming weights and hits the Arachne hard, knocking it up and flipping to its left as Leaf pulls his weapon out of it leaving a large gash.

Gamma then sprint there and with his spear and stabs into the spider via the gash with the red-tinted blade. With a loud battle cry, he pumps his aura into his weapon and flames erupted and burns down at the creature, the spider screeching out in pain. Leaf then leaped up and pushes his greatsword through it, killing it instantly.

They pulls out their weapons out of the large spider, "I really could use a nap now…" Leaf yawned.

"Not yet." Gamma tells him, "We still need to reach Beacon Cliffs." Ivy silently nodding in agreement.

* * *

Moon fired at the Nevermore continuously with aura arrows but of little effect as they simply grazed or bounced off of the bird. It swoops down and charges at her, Ember tackled her out of the way as it flew passed them. Akai took this chance and fired her sniper rounds at the Nevermore hitting either its beak or its belly.

"Anytime now, Raine!" Ember called out as Akai cocked and ejected a bullet casing.

"Just about!"

The Nevermore circles again and released a large rain of feathers down. Akai keeps her sniper rifle as she drew out her guns, firing them with mach 1 succession and knocking off some of the feathers away from her. Moon too retaliated with a series of kicks in various directions, Ember switching to his dual sword mode and swings his blades around knocking the feathers away from both him and Moon.

This left the three of them tired as Akai unload two magazines from her pistols.

"Done!" Raine called out, "Move!" They all followed and ran out of the way as the Nevermore rushed towards Raine in hope of devouring him before he could do anything.

With his hand on his handle the whole time, he waited as the bird come closer to him. His eyes flashed blue for a moment as he drew out his blade with a large arc, a blast of energy released with the swing as a large crescent arc of blue energy fired with him and slashes through the bird like butter. He did not stopped there, as he sped himself up to an extent that everything around him looked nearly frozen in place and proceeds to rapidly slashes the body in multitude of directions.

When his speed dropped back to normal, the body of the Nevermore is now in countless pieces as they scattered passed them.

**(Song Eng)**

They all looked at the swordsman, Raine swings his sword to his right getting rid of any dust and slowly sheathed it before it clicked into place.

"Whoa…" Moon muttered in shock.

The wind blew on his hair as he turned to face them, giving them a wide toothy grin, "Good job team!"

The leaves blew passed them as Ember chuckled softly, "You are something, Raine."

"…" Akai looked at him, the jester of a hunter she was led to believe has took control of the team unconditionally and handle their foe rather with ease. And not just that, she saw how he took a big risk in order for them to get a better advantage towards the Nevermore. That garner her respect more than anything.

"So, Akai." Raine said to her, "Impressed yet? My awesome skills aren't always seen by everyone, you know!"

And her respect for him is gone. That however let to Moon giggling at his words.

* * *

They all managed to make it back to the cliffs where the rest of the teams are waiting, and all presented their relics to Ozpin and Goodwitch. After some waiting, they are sent to the auditorium where the individual teams are announced with their leaders being issued then.

"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark." Ozpin announced, "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL (Cardinal), led by… Cardin Winchester." The four were greeted by an applause as they walked down the stage and the next team walked up.

"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR." He said, Nora giving Ren a hug with laugh, "Led by… Jaune Arc!"

This left the blonde by complete surprise, "Huh? L-Led by…?"

"Congratulations, young man." Ozpin smiled. Pyrrha gave the blonde teen a friendly bump on the shoulder, only for him to knock over and falls onto the ground as the audience laughed at the silliness.

The next team now arrived, "Brock Gishen. Lloyd Grane. Alter Topaz Netherwood. Zi Meng. The four of you retrieved the black queen pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team BLAZ (Blaze). Led by… Lloyd Grane!"

The one named Lloyd Grane nodded in understanding as the lone girl looked at him with a hand on her hip with a grin.

Now Leaf's team arrived at stage, "Leaf Forrest. Ivory Ruine. Gamma Omega. Torque Holstein. The four of you retrieved the white king pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team LIGT (Light). Led by… Leaf Forrest!"

Leaf blinked in surprise, as Torque cheered, "Yeah Leaf!"

"I expect great things from you, young man." Ozpin smiled.

"Y-Yeah…"

The second last team walked up to the stage, "Raine Aoi Sapphire. Akai Scarlet. Ember Schutze. Moon B. Schnee. The four of you retrieved the white queen pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RAEM (Rain). Led by… Raine Aoi Sapphire!"

Akai looked at Raine, the teen looked rather surprised. Ember gave him a pat in the back while Moon smiled at him.

The last team walked up to the stage at last, "And finally: Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY (Ruby). Led by… Ruby Rose!"

Weiss was shocked, not as shocked as Ruby was as Yang went over to hug her little sister, "I'm so proud of you!"

Ozpin smirked as he sips his coffee, "It looks like things are shaping up to be an… interesting year."

* * *

After the end of the ceremony, all the first years are having a celebration for passing the initiation outside in the school yard. RWBY and JNPR are talking and congratulating each other, RAEM and LIGT having a small chat about the leadership being issued. "Man, I never thought you would be the leader, Leaf." Ember stated, "You never seems to be the leader type."

"I was surprised too." Leaf stated.

"Well, comparing to the rest of your team, you are the most obvious choice." Akai stated bluntly looking over at IGT, "An introvert sniper, a silent anti-social spearman and a hyperactive wrecking ball. If I was Ozpin, I would pick the lazy kid over them."

"T-That was harsh!" Ivy cried.

"But Raine getting to be leader is to be expected, right?" Moon said cheerfully.

"That I agree." Ember nodded, "He has the qualities of a great leader. Calm mind, willing to take risk himself first, and complete trust towards his team."

"As much as I want to disagree, Raine is the proper choice." Akai stated.

"So, you have seen how awesome I am now, right?" Raine said with great confidence.

"Even if he is a cocky jester."

"Confident. The word is confident." He smirked, before he is sent flying across and pinned onto the wall by the familiar spear of Pyrrha Nikos, Milo. "Damn it, Pyrrha!"

"Never learn, do you?" Pyrrha chuckled.

Raine looked at her and chuckled, 'This is going to be an interesting four years.'

…

_To be continued…_

**There! Finally the end of the initiation!  
Formation of the team, OCs and canon  
completed.**

**Now, for those OCs that have been issued  
by the many others, I like to thank you all  
for giving me them. They are all magnificent  
and I might make use of them real soon.**

**Now, let me tell you this. This story will  
followed the canon storyline, with some  
adjustments. And another thing. I will  
not be able to update as much as I could  
due to lack of a story development information  
that I can come up with.**

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**


	5. Farewell, Monty Oum

**A/N RIP MONTY OUM**

**It is sad for me to say, but on the 1 Feb 2015, our beloved creator of RWBY has passed away. He has been fighting hard since an allergic reaction to a medical treatment and we knows how dangerous that are. He has fought valiantly, but sadly… He is gone.**

**This beloved franchise, no matter how flawed it may be, is one of his many masterpieces that will be discontinued and it will remained incomplete until someone is willing to take up his mantle and start this show in his name.**

**There is a slideshow that has been dedicated to his mourning. If you are interested, go and write some last words for him.**

**Monty Oum, you will be missed dearly, by us fans, by the world, by the internet, by RoosterTeeth, by everyone who knows him.**

**As such, I decided to make a special chapter for him and him alone.**

**SP Chapter: Death of a god**

* * *

Raine woke up, awaken in a large white space. 'Where on earth…?'

[Raine, you must go.]

"Huh?-! Who are you?-!"

[There is little time, but the god of your world is passing. Soon, there will be others that are willing to gain his power and are heading towards him. Someone need to make sure that they are stopped.]

"God? Passing?" Raine blinked, "Come on! That's crazy talk! Gods don't die!"

[They do, Raine. They do. Now hurry!]

By his side, a long stairway leading up to the heavens build itself in front of him, "Okay then… well since I'm stuck here at the moment…" He runs up the stairway hoping to find what is up there.

Once he reached, he saw a bed, a single bed in a white room, a man lying down there sickly, dying.

He looked around, noticing shadows of Grimms starting to appear around him, "No. No, no, no, no! You are not going to dine on a dying man!" Raine shouted, drawing his blade ready for retaliation. He runs towards many countless Grimms, his sword slashing though the dark creatures.

He somersaulted over the endless hordes of Grimm, his blade cutting through the many creatures as he passed them before he continue slashing at them.

But it was too much, there is too much Grimm.

'Why? Why are there so much Grimm?-! Is it they wanted the power of this god?'

The sickly man looked over at the teen fighting the endless hordes of Grimm. Raising his hand weakly, a bright glow appeared around his finger before a large burst of power blast through around him, killing the Grimm instantly.

"Wow…" He muttered in shock. He walked over to the man, his face pale as white as bone and shrivelled up like a raisin. This is indeed someone on his dying bed.

This is the god of Remnant…

"H-Hey…" He asked him, "You… okay…?"

"…You…" The man spoke in a tired gasp of air, "…I see… so you are… one of them… too…"

"You're going to be fine, right…?" Raine asked, "I mean, you're a GOD, after all."

"…I'm… just tired…" He spoke, "Tired… so very tired… I wanted… to sleep… but not like this… I need… someone to… take my place… But no one came… no one to inherit my powers…no one to help shape the world… in my steed…"

"Shape the world?"

"Remnant… isn't complete… it is flawed…" He stated, "I've been… changing things… adding in new things… but it is in vain… the other gods… they mocked my creation… my world…"

"…Let them mock." Raine stated, "This is the world you created, your masterpiece. I can see it is beyond perfect, but it is as good as it can get. It is my world, and I'm proud of it. You don't need to change it too much."

"…So there are still people like you…" He sighed in relief, "…" He raised his hand, a bright orb of light glowed around it and floats out of his hand. "This… is the power I have… I want you to take it… and give it to… people you think is… worthy of this power…"

Raine took the orb of light, the man looked at him and smiled, "For an OC, you're pretty well-made…"

This caused him to blink in confusion, before he saw the man slowly draw his last breath. He has died. The god of his world has died. He looked at his hand, the orb of light that contains the power to shape his world.

[Are you going to keep it?]

"…No." Raine stated, putting down the orb on the floor, "Someone will find this, in this place."

[You not wanting the power of a god?]

"Too much work." He stated, "Besides, Remnant doesn't need a god. It has us, Huntsman and Huntress, Human and Faunus. We will shape the world. So don't worry, I'll make sure this world will be as good as it always been."

[I've made you too well, I guess…]

"Say, what did he mean, OC?" Raine asked.

[You are not created by him. You are an individual that is born in this world by the hands of another.]

"You're my creator, aren't you?"

[Indeed I am.]

"Well, what if I gave the power to you? You seems to be able to do the same thing as him."

[That is not a power I need. I'm happy enough with the power I have now.]

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Raine stated, reaching out his hand to the sky, "We can, shake hands, right?"

[Well, not on the physical side, but in our hearts, we did. It's time to sent you back.]

"Finally…"

[Farewell, Raine Aoi Sapphire.]

"Farewell to you too, Tarious123."

* * *

Raine woke up again, this time in the lecture hall where Peter Port is still talking about his own life story, again…

"What a dream…"

* * *

**There, my farewell to our beloved Monty Oum. You will be missed.**

**RIP Monty Oum  
1981 - 2015**


	6. Chapter 4

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

**Chapter 4 First week**

* * *

The sun rises up on a brand new day, Beacon academy got ready for the new semester. The staff prepared their lesson plans for the freshmen as well as the junior and senior years, checking over the roster and the attendance sheet. It is on this same morning that many new students are preparing for their new class and perhaps know each other more.

Well, mostly everyone.

Team RAEM is still in bed deep asleep from a full night of unpacking and arranging their room and places. Ember chose to use a hammock he brought along that he pinned above Moon's bed along with Akai who too have a hammock on top of Raine's bed that has a curtain facing its right, allowing two beds to be removed and placed back into storage. Raine's sleeping area has a single sword stand he hanged on the wall next to his bed with his swords, named Kotegiri and Fudo, on it along with several polishing stones and metal cleaner. Moon's sleeping area has a green folding board near the foot of her bed as well as a hanger with her jacket hanging on it.

They are all sleeping soundly, until a loud whistle is heard that woke everyone up in shock and caused Raine to topple out of his bed. "Ow…"

"Are you okay?" Moon asked him worriedly.

"I'm good…"

"What was that?" Ember asked as he hopped off his hammock, "I think it came from the room next to us."

"Who knows?" Akai stated, peeking out of the curtain. Moon then noticed that lack of clothing that is on her, "A-Akai, put some clothes on!" She cried, "When did you take them off?-!"

"Huh? I always sleep in the buff." She stated.

"What did she say?-!" Raine cried jumping on his feet, "I'm coming in-Ack!" He was just about to jump into her hammock but Akai kicked him off before he even got close.

"A jester, and a deviant." Akai deadpanned at him, "You're starting to lose my respect here, _leader_."

"In his defence, you shouldn't have sleep naked in the first place." Ember stated.

Akai groaned in annoyance as she pulls back the curtain grumbling on how fussy and sexist some people are. After a while, she came out with the official school uniform that all students were issued, but her skirt is exchanged to pants. She noticed Moon's look at her, "What?"

"Change to a skirt!" Moon cried.

"Pants are much more comfortable." Akai stated, "Besides, if I run too fast, my underwear will be seen."

"Then put some spats on!"

"…" She blinked before knocking her fist in her palm in understanding, "Oh yeah."

As Akai got back into her hammock to change, sawing and nail hammering can be heard behind one of their walls, "What are they doing…?" Raine wonders as he sat on the floor.

"Whose team is in the next room again?" Ember asked.

"I believe it is RWBY…" Moon muttered remembering the room arrangements.

"RWBY, huh…?" The fox Faunus muttered in thought as Akai leaped out of her hammock wearing a skirt now and black spats underneath. Raine looked at the clock, it reading 8.20, "We still got some time before the first class." He stated, "Why don't we get to know each other more?"

"That's a great idea!" Moon said cheerfully.

"We ARE going to be a team for the next four years, so why not?" Ember stated nodding in understanding.

"How are we going to do with this?" Akai asked.

"Let's start with some introductions." Raine stated, "I'll start. I'm Raine Aoi Sapphire, seventeen years old and graduate of Sanctum Academy. My hobbies are sword cleaning and mounting. I like sweet stuff and sexy woman, and I disliked bullies and egotistic bastards. My dream is becoming a full-fledged Huntsman and traverse all over Remnant."

"Sweet stuff…?" Moon stated confused, "You don't look the type."

"It's due to my semblance. I need quite a lot of sugar for me to keep using it." He explained, "Now… let's start clockwise then… Akai, you're up."

"Me next? Um, sure…" Akai muttered, "My name is Akai Scarlet, sixteen years old. My hobbies, there's nothing really… I like spicy food, and I dislike overconfident idiots. My dream, no, my goal is to find a certain someone."

"Who is this 'someone'?" Ember asked.

"I don't wish to talk about it."

Raine and Ember looked at each other, the human shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I'm next." The fox Faunus stated, "I'm Ember Schutze. I'm eighteen this year, and for the record, I'm a FOX. Not a dog, not a wolf, FOX. I don't really have hobby, and nothing I really like. But what I really dislike are racists and the current White Fang."

"Current?" Moon wondered.

"The White Fang was originally a peaceful organisation working to ease racial disputes between humans and Faunus." Akai tells her, "If I recalled correctly, it was couple years ago that it changed to the terrorist group we know today due to the change in leaders."

"Ember my man, I feel you." Raine stated, "White Fang may have the goals of helping Faunus all over Remnant, but their actions the past couple years have gone too far."

"Indeed." Ember muttered. Raine noticed the look of guilt in his eyes, but chose to ignore it for now, "Now, that leaves Moon." He stated.

"R-Right." Moon nodded, "M-My name is Moon B Schnee! I'm seventeen years old. I took on archery as a hobby but I'm currently looking into kick boxing. I like… well…flowers, I guess… I don't have anything that I dislike at the moment…"

"Anything you want to ask each other?" Raine asked, and instantly the three looking at him intensively, "Y-Yeah?"

"For starters, how did you become so strong?" Moon asked curiously.

"Are you hiding something from us?" Akai asked seriously.

"How long did you train exactly?" Ember asked.

"How come I'm the first to be asked?-!" Raine cried.

"You are the most interesting one among us all." Moon stated.

"Not every new student show much skill and experience as you did." Ember stated, Akai nodding in agreement.

"…" Raine sighed in defeat, "Okay, okay… To answer them all in order: I've trained for quite a long time, Moon. Just serious diligent training with a few help here and there. With me hiding anything from you, well… (Insert sarcastic grin here) that's for me to know, and you to find out." Akai clicked her tongue in annoyance. "As for how long, it's hard to say. Besides receiving classes at Sanctum, I did have help with some of my relatives. If I were to put it, it would be around six to seven years in total."

"Really? It seems you trained longer than that." Ember stated, "Or maybe you fought actual Grimm for a while now?"

"I did work part-time at this mercenary group when I was still in Sanctum." Raine stated, "I have to take on a few Grimm extermination missions to get my pay."

Ember nodded knowing that there are still freelance Huntsman and Huntress out there despite having a licensing system. They seem to take on much more dangerous missions compared to proper licensed Huntsman. "Now then…" He turned to Akai, "Akai, I wanted to ask you something for a while now."

"Huh? What is it?" She asked.

"You're… an assassin, right?" He asked, stunning Raine and Moon, "HUH?-!" Raine cried out.

"A-Assassin…?" Moon muttered in shock.

"How did you know?" She asked.

"Well, I have my sources. Your appearance and weapons gave it away." Ember stated, "Born in Vacuo, you are an orphan that turned to assassination as a way to survive. You work for anyone that is willing to pay a big buck, but it is also seems that you only took jobs that kills off higher-ups of corrupt organizations as well as the heads of the underworld in Vacuo."

"So an assassin is my partner, huh…" Raine muttered, "Well, she is hot so who cares!" Everyone nearly face-faulted at his easy-going yet pervy attitude.

"Nothing really bothers you, huh…?" He stated at his leader's goofy smile.

"Now then, Moon." Akai asked the girl, "How's the BAP doing these days since the death of Richard?"

"Wait, how do you know?-!" Moon cried.

"Um, it was pretty obvious." She stated. Raine nodded in agreement, "Your hairclip kind of gave it away." He added. "If you want to keep your inheritance a secret, I suggest contacts and dyeing your hair."

"So, how is the BAP doing?" Akai asked, "It better be good, I have to check all the guards' routine and his routine before I dared fired at him."

"Wait, you're the one that killed Richard?-!" Moon cried.

"Who is this Richard?" Raine asked.

"Richard Valentine is a Faunus within the BAP that has been supplying arms to the White Fang and selling counterfeit weaponry to Atlas to give himself more funds." Akai stated, "I was tasked with killing him off so to disrupt the arms trade between the two."

"My uncle has found evidence to evict him with crimes against the company and illegal trading after his death." Moon stated, "After that, we managed to build back up our rep with Atlas and the Schnee Dust Company. We now is one of the leading arms manufacturer in Remnant."

"With a sacrifice of one, thousands are saved…" Raine muttered, "As much as I hate that method, it can be quite productive if used correctly."

"Indeed. Someone needs to clean the trash of humanity." Akai stated.

Raine looked at the clock to check the time, it is now 08.50. "We better leave soon, or we'll be late for class." He stated as went to the door and opened it as the rest followed him out. He recalled JNPR's room being opposite RWBY's and decided to knock on the door, hard.

"Pyrrha, you better not oversleep like last time!" He shouted out before walking off.

"Hey, that was just that one time!-!" He hear her voice shouting and chuckled a little.

"You two are pretty close, huh?" Moon asked, "Are you two related in some way?"

"Or perhaps you two are actually dating?" Akai asked.

"Ha! As if!" Raine laughed, "People asked that so many times that it is predictable. Sure we are close, but not that close. We are dorm mates back at Sanctum, so we understand each other pretty well."

"Oh, so like close friends!" Moon said understanding.

"I know this is late for me to say this, but do you guys have anything to eat?" Ember asked. At that moment, Akai took out four snack bars in both of her hands out of thin air, "I got apple, peach, chocolate and nuts. Take your pick." She tells him.

"Where did you get those?" Raine asked curiously.

"I always have snacks on me just in case."

"Oh, from your- OW!"

"Don't you dare finished that sentence."

* * *

They are all in a lecture hall as the new students starts to prepare to listen to the teacher, a middle-aged plumb man with a moustache that seems unrealistic, but amazing at the same time, named Peter Port. "Monsters! Demons… Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of the Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as PREY! Ha-ha!"

"…" Silence filled the air at the terrible attempt of a joke and everyone has pretty much the same thought in their minds at the moment, 'How on Remnant did he became a teacher here?'

"Uhh… and you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying, Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms and a certain village, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely TEEMING with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in! Huntsmen! Huntresses…" He stopped to wink at a very annoyed Yang, "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the VERY World!"

"YEAH!" A single student raised his hand and cheered, getting very awkward looks from everyone in the room as he lowered his fist and remained silence.

"That is what you are training to become." Port added, "But first, a story. A tale of a young, handsome man… me!"

Raine groaned at this as the teacher proceeds to monologue his life story to every student here. 'Man, when bro said prepared to doze off in Professor Port's class, he wasn't kidding…' He looked around, people with varied attention around him as well as noticing Ruby near the front seat seemly goofing around with Weiss getting steadily angrier by the minute.

'This will not end well…' Raine groaned before proceed to take out a blue canvas paper with diagrams of what appeared to be a blueprint for a type of weapon, 'Since we have time…' He proceeds to draw on it, adding onto the already seemly half completed blueprint.

Akai sitting next to him looked at him with curiosity. "What are you doing?" She whispered him.

"Oh, just a small project of mine." He whispers back.

"…Shouldn't we pay attention to the teacher?" Moon asked, her and Ember sitting just below them.

"Pay attention to what?" Ember stated.

"Ah-heh-hem!" They hear Port purposely clearing his throat loudly and stopped talking. The plump Huntsman proceed to continue on with his story and Raine carries on with his work.

"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" Port ended his story with this sentence.

"I do, sir!" Weiss shouted raising her hand.

"Well then, let's find out!" He stated as he walked a few steps back showing the cage he has brought along shaking uncontrollably, "Step forward, and face your opponent!"

The Schnee heiress left the room to get her combat equipment, Raine still busy with his blueprint unaware of what is happening, "Ah, so if I add this feature…" He muttered as he continues to draw on the blueprint.

"Um, Raine!" Moon whispers to him rather loudly.

"Ah-hem!" Port addressed loudly taking the attention of the teen rather startlingly, "Mr Raine, was it? Do you mind paying attention to class once in a while?"

"Y-Yes, sir." Raine nodded stiffly, before looking down at his blueprint in horror, "Ah dammit!" Due to getting startled by the teacher, he has accidentally drawn white line going right across the canvas paper from where he was interrupted.

After a while, and Raine grudgingly thrown away the now useless blueprint (Raine: "At least I still have the idea of it in my scroll…"), Weiss returned in her combat outfit and her rapier, a Multi Action Dust Rapier (MADR) called Myrtenaster. She took her stance as she prepared to take on whatever is in the cage.

Her teammates are all at the front row seat cheering her on, "Go Weiss!" Yang cheered on with Blake waving small flags with their team's name on them.

"Yeah, represent Team RWBY!" Ruby cheered.

"Ruby! I'm trying to focus!" Weiss shouted back angrily.

"Oh, um… sorry…"

Raine sighed as he saw how angry the heiress is, "This is not going to end well at all…" His teammates sharing the same thought.

"Alright!" Port stood next to the cage with his axe/blunderbuss, "Let the match… BEGIN!" With a sharp swing, he broke the lock of the cage and releasing the creature inside, a Boarbatusk charges out towards Weiss. She manages to deflect the attack and rolls out of the way, the Grimm now standing a distance away from her studying her posture.

"Ha-ha! Wasn't expecting THAT, were you?"

"I… kind of did." Raine whispered to Akai, she looked at him sceptically, "It's hard to explain."

"Hang in there, Weiss!" Ruby cheered.

Weiss dashes forward with her rapier aimed at the Boarbatusk and manages to stick the sword right in between its tusks. She struggles to free her weapon from the beast as it tries to shrug her off it, "Bold new approach, I like it!" Port stated.

"Come on Weiss! Show it who's boss!" Ruby cheered.

That resulted in a glare from her, only for the Boarbatusk to take that moment of distraction and toss Myrtenaster off and away from her before slamming her with its tusk, sending her crashing across the floor. "Oh-ho! Now what will you do without your weapon?" Port exclaimed.

She looked up just in time to see the beast charging straight at her before managing to roll out of the way to avoid being trampled on as it crashing and breaks the desk. Weiss slides over and manages to get her weapon back as she steadied to strike.

"Weiss! Go for its belly! There's no armour underneath—"

"Stop telling me what to do!" She shouted at the younger girl in anger, Ruby flinched back at the rebuttal. At that moment, the beast leaped into the air and spins into a ball that is getting faster with every rotation until it reaches its preferred acceleration and charges forward at Weiss. She saw this and activates her glyphs to block the roll before leaping up into another and dives her blade deep into the Boarbatusk's stomach. It squeals out in pain before falling limp, Weiss breathes a sigh of relief from this.

"Bravo! Bra-Vo!" Port congratulates with clapping of his hands, "It appears we are INDEED in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training! I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and stay VIGILANT! Class dismissed!"

Weiss glared at Ruby, before turning away and walks to the exit past her teammates.

"She has issues." Ember stated.

"Well, it's not completely her fault." Akai stated, "Ruby Rose has been goofing off during class. And she is supposed to be the team leader." She glanced at her leader, "Sounds familiar?"

"Hey, don't use me as reference!" Raine said angrily, "And I wasn't goofing off! I was busy!"

"With what?" She asked, "That PROJECT of yours?"

"Yes!"

"Um… I believe that is indeed 'goofing off', Raine." Moon stated.

He groaned in annoyance before walking out of the lecture hall.

* * *

Outside the corridor, Ruby manages to catch up to her partner, "Weiss!"

"What?-!"

"What's wrong with you?" Ruby asked worriedly, "Why are you being-?"

"What's wrong with ME?-!" Weiss cried, "What's wrong with YOU?-! You're supposed to be a leader and all you have been so far is a nuisance!"

"What did I do?-!"

"That's just it! You've done NOTHING to earn your position!" The heiress shouted, "Back in the forest, you acted like a child, and you've only continued to do so!"

"Weiss, where is this coming from?" Ruby asked, almost whimpering, "What happened to all the talk about 'working together'? I thought you believed in acting as a team."

"Not a team led by YOU." Weiss stated, "I've studied, AND trained. And quite frankly, I deserve better."

"Ozpin made a mistake."

Those words really hurt deep, as she walked away leaving a doubtful and dejected Ruby. Akai walked up to her having witnessed the whole exchange of words, "That didn't go too well." She stated looking at the younger girl.

"Is she right?" Ruby asked, tears threatening to fall out the corners of her eyes, "Did Ozpin made a mistake?"

Akai thought for a while before looking her in the eyes, "That is yet to be seen."

* * *

Weiss walked around the hallways fuming with anger as she tried to find someplace to let lose all those emotions in her. She then come across to a balcony overlooking the sunset over the roofs of Beacon Academy, leaning on the railings looking at the array of orange light is the leader of Team RAEM, Raine Aoi Sapphire.

He heard her footsteps and looked over to her with a small smile, "Hey there, Ice Princess."

"Oh, it's you." She muttered as she turned to leave.

"We need to talk, Weiss." Raine said with an unusual serious tone, "It's about what happened during class."

"Then there's nothing to talk about." Weiss stated as she proceeds to walk off but was blocked by Raine appearing in front of her in a blue flash, "Move it!"

"Not until we talk." He stated firmly grabbing her wrist tightly and pulls her towards the railings despite her objections.

"Fine, we'll talk." Weiss grumbled angrily.

"What's your problem with Ruby?" Raine asked, "Sure she is younger and slightly childish, actually her maturity is much to be welcomed, but she is your teammate and leader. I'm sure you can at least garner her some respect at least."

"She isn't fit to be a leader!" She stated angrily, "…I should've be the leader of Team RWBY."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Snow Angel," He tells her, "but you are not fit to be just that."

* * *

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked curiously.

"It's just been one day, Ruby Rose." Akai tells her, "People makes mistakes and I'm sure Ozpin has his share of mistakes in his life. But if I were to pick instead of him, you are the correct choice. Do you think you're the correct choice?"

* * *

"Excuse me?-!" Weiss cried in anger.

"You're not fit to lead anything yet, Weiss." Raine stated, "Ozpin made his decision and it is Ruby. You can't argue with that."

"So you're blindly accepting his decision then?-!" She cried.

"In all honesty, Weiss. You do have great skills on the field like just now." He stated, "But even so, skills can only carry you so far in a Huntsman, in your case a Huntress, career. Your terrible attitude towards your partner proves it."

"How DARE you!"

"Case and point." Raine stated, "And I bet that you have gotten anything you ever wanted your ENTIRE life, right?"

"That's not even REMOTELY true!" Weiss cried.

"Then a yes then." He concluded.

* * *

"Listen, Ruby." Akai stated, "A leader isn't some fancy title you have when in battle, but a badge you wore on constantly. If you aren't willing to perform your best, would others be willing to follow you with that little resolve?"

Ruby thought for a moment, before nodding in understanding.

* * *

"Listen, Weiss." Raine stated, "You think leaders should be people who have well trained and skilled as well as sharing some leadership skills. Indeed, those are true and necessary to be one. But leaders have a responsibility."

"Responsibility?"

"Weiss, if your team were to meet an enemy that would is impossible to kill and near impossible to run away, what would you do?" He asked her.

"…I'll sent one of my teammates to be the decoy while the rest made it to safety." She answered.

"…That's what I though you'll say." Raine sighed, "Let's say the rest of your team made it out alive, what about the one you left for dead? Would you hurry back and save him?" He then saw the slight guilt in her eyes, "So you won't. Then, are you willing to live knowing that you just willingly sent one of your own comrades to die so to save yourself and any remaining survivors?"

"I…"

"Leaders are those who lead." He added, "If one of your teammates die due to your poor decisions, his death is on you. Your decision was the right one, but the choice you made wasn't the best. You need to understand that being a leader isn't all glory and honour. You have to make decisions that may end up in a death of your comrades and yourself. And with your attitude, your team wouldn't last a day with you leading."

"…"

"Weiss, you may not be able to become the best LEADER." Raine stated, "But you CAN become something more. Become a supporting role, help out your team as much as you can. Hone your skills, perfect your strengths. And become the greatest PERSON you can be."

* * *

"Ruby, a leader is a big responsibility." Akai tells the younger girl, "Your team depends on you now, so better re-think your position and act accordingly."

Ruby nodded in understanding before a thought crossed her mind, "Akai, do you think Raine is the right choice as your team leader?" She asked.

The older girl thought for a while, "At first, I didn't really think he has what it takes to be a team leader." She stated, "But he has proved me wrong during the initiation. He may act like a jester at times, but when the time comes, I'm sure he would prove to me and everyone that he is worthy of the mantle."

* * *

Raine walked off leaving Weiss to think over his words, "Hey, Raine!" She called out, prompting him to stop.

"Yeah?"

"What about you? Do you think that you yourself is fit to be a leader?"

He turned around and thought for a moment, "To be honest, I never seen myself as a leader." He tells her, "But since it was given to me, I might as well take the mantle. I may be cocky, I can't believe I just call me myself that, but when the going get rough, I'll make sure to get my team through it. And I would never let any of my teammates die."

"I see…" Weiss nodded understanding him now, "What if you were to be in the same situation like you ask me? What would you do?"

"…I'll make sure that enemy won't pass me at all as my team made it to safety." Raine smirked.

* * *

The next day, Raine has seen quite an improvement in the relationship between Ruby and Weiss. He has seen Weiss walking into her room with a cup of coffee in her hands when he went to get some water the night before, and the next morning she and Ruby were talking to each other normally.

Sure it wasn't a big improvement, but at least Weiss is willing to swallowed her pride and accept the younger girl as her leader.

Now, they are all gathered at the auditorium where the stage has been changed slightly. Glynda Goodwitch stood on the stage as she addressed to the class. "Welcome to Combat Studies. In this class, you will be honing your respective skills in combat as a Huntsman and Huntress." She tells them, "As Huntsmen and Huntress, we not only have to fight the creatures of Grimm, but also against other people as well. It is our duty to help preserve peace in all the four kingdoms."

Raine looked at her, all the students all in their respective combat outfits with some rather pumped up for this lesson like Yang and Nora for example. "Now then, for our first class, we are going to start with some light sparring first." She tells them, "First up, Brock Gishen against Leaf Forrest."

Leaf stood forward with his greatsword out and ready. His opponent walked up to the stage opposite of him. Brock is a skinny teen with light brown hair that is long on his right and short of his left and green eyes, wearing a black gakuran with a grey shirt that has a hood with black shorts, a belt tied around his waist that contains what seems to be grenades as well as arm guards with fingerless combat gloves and combat boots with knee guards.

"I really wish to take a nap now…" Leaf yawned, "Professor Port's class can get boring really fast…"

"…" Brock nodded in agreement.

"Well then, both combatants, ready your weapons." Glynda tells them, Leaf grabbed his greatsword and readied himself. Brock swings out both his arms and two objects came out of his arm guards that unfolded into two boomerang blades with a handle inside of the one the blades which he grabbed in a reverse grip.

"Begin!"

They both charge at each other, Leaf slamming his greatsword at Brock's twin Boomerangs, both their weapons clashing and mimicking sparks as their blades grind against each other. The green-clad teen pulls his blade back from the lock and swings from the side, the boomerang user blocked it with one of his boomerangs.

Leaf used this chance and split his sword into its dual blade form and swings down the white blade at him. Brock put up his other weapon and block the second sword. They both broke free of the lock and starts swinging their blades furiously at each other, the ringing of steel meet steel filled the air as their blades bounced off each other with every strike.

Brock leaped back as he tossed both his weapons at Leaf, the two boomerangs spinning towards him as one bursts into flames while the other gets surrounded by spirals of wind. He deflected both their attacks and charges straight at the now weapon-less Brock. What he did not expect was for the blades to come back towards him, prompting him to conjure up a sphere of his green aura around him that the two weapons bounced off from.

His opponent dashes and grabbed one of his blades and tossed it again at Leaf before retrieving the other. Leaf released the sphere and moved to the side to dodge the spinning blade coming towards him. Before he can react, the second boomerang spins towards him and already is too close for him to dodge as it cuts passed his side. When still distracted by the attack, the previous boomerang spins back and slices him by the right shoulder.

Brock grabbed onto the first boomerang and tossed it again, cutting Leaf on his other side and the second boomerang spinning towards him and cutting his thigh. He catches the second boomerang and tossed it too, cutting him again with the first one cutting too. This cycle repeated for a while as Leaf is stuck getting hit around by the boomerangs.

Leaf's aura level is dropping rapidly with every hit, now already halfway down. 'I got to end this!' He summon out a five aura knives and tossed them at one of the boomerang coming back, knocking it off course as it fumbles a distance away from Brock. Seeing Brock letting his guard down to grab his weapon, Leaf leaped forward with his swords and slashes rapidly at him.

The attack has done its job as the Brock's aura level now getting chipped away quickly that it reaches the red in no time.

A buzzer is heard and Leaf stopped his assault.

"Students, as you witnessed in the match, if you believed you're out matched, it is best to create a distance between you and your opponent." Glynda explained, "But at the same time, don't get too cosy from attack at the distance as your opponent might as well close in the distance."

Leaf reconnect his twin swords into a greatsword again and Brock picked up his boomerangs, they both keeping their weapons in their respective holsters.

"Brock, don't rely on your weapon's long range skills too much next time." She tells him, "Leaf, work on your reflexes. You two may go." They stepped down the stage, "Next fight:"

The entire class ended up being an all-out spar between the many students.

Raine ended up fighting against Lloyd Grane, a pale skinned teen with choppy grey hair and silver eyes wearing a greyish silver V-neck with dark grey vest and black jeans that has rips and tears with black combat boots, and it ended up with a tie as Lloyd is capable to reacting fast enough to match Raine's speed Semblance but not fast enough to avoid all of his attacks.

Torque fought against Nora, the both of them ended up nearly smashing the stage into pieces with their heavy attacks that Glynda has to stop the match before they go too far.

Akai fought against Gamma, ending it with Gamma's win with the hooded teen completely dominating the battlefield one-sidedly not giving Akai a chance to fire her guns at him.

Ivy fought against Alter Topaz Netherwood, a dark skinned teen with messy black hair and topaz eyes wearing white sleeveless shirt under a black combat vest with black combat pants and boots along with a pair of black fingerless gloves as well as a purple scarf around his neck, which resulted in her win by chance when she used her portal semblance to fire teleport him high up from the stage and fired a fire dust bullet at him which exploded and took out majority of his aura.

Ember fought against Yang, the blonde bombshell won hands down when he accidentally cut some of her hair off that led to her into a rage and a right hook that sends him flying off the stage and crashing into the auditorium's walls.

Blake fought against Zi Meng, a slightly tanned girl with purple hair tied in a bubble ponytail and black eyes wearing a high-collared sleeveless purple shirt with detached bell sleeves of the same colour with dark grey leggings and violet knee-high boots, the match being an even tie of skills until Blake tricked her with her semblance took her down with a series of well-placed strikes.

Weiss fought against Pyrrha, the regional champ having a rather hard time with the heiress's glyphs giving her trouble but she pulls through and took her down.

Ruby fought against Jaune, and it was not much of a match as the poor boy ended up being tossed around like a rag doll by her.

Sadly, there wasn't much of a class then as there isn't enough time to go through everyone as the bell rang signalling the end of the lesson as everyone broke for lunch.

* * *

The couple of days ended up being quite an adventure. First, there was the General History lessons that was taught by Professor Bartholomew Oobleck, which ended up being an unofficial challenge of seeing if anyone can keep up with the over-hyperactive professor's movement and perhaps make some sense of what he is talking in the first place.

The only people that can probably catch what he is saying is either Akai, Lloyd or Raine.

Then, there were the Aura Studies lessons, led by someone that was rather surprising to say the least.

It is quite late in the afternoon as the last period for the freshmen, and they are all back in one of the lecture halls for the first Aura Studies lesson. For some reason, the teacher is late.

"What's the deal?-!" Weiss said angrily, "How can a teacher be late?-!"

"Maybe it's a new staff?" Ruby stated.

"Even if it's a newbie, it's doesn't excused his tardiness!" She cried.

"It's a she, actually." Akai tells the heiress, "And yes, she is a new staff that joined in a month before the start of the semester."

"How exactly did you find those things anyway?" Jaune asked.

"Oh, simple. I've hacked into Ozpin's computer."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"You did what now?" The blonde boy repeated after digging his ear a bit.

"Hack into Ozpin's computer."

"With what?" Raine asked.

"This." She tells them showing them her scroll, "It's surprisingly easy, getting into the system I mean."

"Huh. Okay then." Raine nodded in understanding.

"You can't leave it at that!" Weiss cried, "You're the leader, Raine! You should reprimand her for doing so!"

"She just went and find information that will be shared eventually." Ember stated, "That's nothing wrong with that."

"I agree." Blake nodded.

"Cut the girl some slack, princess." Yang chuckled.

"She still did a crime!" Weiss cried.

Ember's ears twitched a little, "Sounds like the teacher is on her way here."

"Those ears aren't for show, huh?" Raine chuckled, "Glad that you're a wolf Faunus, aren't you?"

"Of course it's not!" He cried, "And I'm a FOX!"

"He's just messing with you." Yang laughed, "No need to get so _Ember_-ressed now~"

Most of their teams looked at her with dead-panned expression, Leaf laughing his head off at the awful pun. "How do you find that funny?" Ivy asked him, not expecting any answer from her laughing leader.

The door slammed opened, "Sorry, I'm late! I got lost and-KYA!" The teacher slipped on the first step and falls right down, dropping books and various glass containers containing several colours of Dust. Those seated closed to the stairs, which means Raine, Lloyd and Ruby, manages to grab the flasks of Dust before they hit the floor as their teacher rolls down the stairs.

She ended up crashing into the desk in at the front face-first. "O-Ow~!" She groaned in agony.

"Are you okay, professor?" Moon asked her worriedly.

"That's a pretty nasty fall." Blake added.

"I-I'm fine!" The teacher got up on her feet wiping away any dust on her legs. The Dust Studies teacher seems to be a Faunus in her late twenties, two brown dog ears on her head as proof of her race. She has long brown hair with pinkish tips that reached passed her shoulder to just below her ribcage with bright blue eyes, a rather petite body for an adult wearing a white lab coat over a white buttoned-up shirt with a red tie and black shorts with grey stockings and brown boots. Big circular glasses perched on her nose.

"G-Good afternoon everyone!" She greeted with much cheer despite the forced smile on her face, "I-I'm F-Fenier Einstin, a-and w-welcome to D-Dust Studies-"

"Hey, why is there an animal in the room?" Cardin said mockingly, his team chuckled at the racist remark, causing her to flinch and stepped back a little, "I don't recalled getting animals to teach me."

"Shut your mouth, Cardin Winchester!" Ember shouted angrily, "Or _I_ will shut it for you?"

"What? You mad, doggy?" He mocked him, the fox Faunus growled even more, "All I'm stating are facts."

"Ignore him, Ember." Raine tells him, "It's not worth getting a fight with a dumbass like him over."

"What did you call me?-!" Cardin shouted.

"N-Now, now, you two!" Fenier cried out, "I-It's not right to fight in class!"

"You can't tell me what to do, you freak!"

That snapped Ember's patience as he leaped out of his seat with his fist out ready to hit CRDL's leader, before Raine grabbed his arm holding him back, "Let me go, Raine!"

"Stand down, Ember!" Raine shouted, "It is not worth it!"

"It is people like him that–"

"I SAID STAND DOWN!"

He stopped, as he noticed Raine's unexpected fierce expression. He clicked his tongue in annoyance before sitting down. Cardin too kept quiet, not wanting to get on RAEM's leader's bad side. "A-Anyways! W-Welcome to Dust Studies!" Fenier greeted yet again, "In this module, you will learn about the different Dusts and the effects of each one. You might think you know everything about Dust, but they are still countless combinations that are yet to be discovered with various effects."

"Now, um…" She looked around for something, Raine, Ruby and Lloyd brought up the flasks of Dusts in their hands for her to see, "Y-Yeah, thanks!" She said sheepishly before walking over to pick up the flasks from them.

"Now, then:"

She starts to explain to them all the different types of basic Dust and the various other forms of Dust created when mixing several Dusts together. She go on to demonstrate on how to do so with some various results, some rather entertaining to see like one mixture created sparks that flew into the air in a small array of fireworks while some just blew up in her face.

She still makes mistakes like when she tripped over a fallen test tube on the floor and fell onto her bump hard, or that time that she tried to grab something from under the teacher's desk and accidentally hit her head. She was a klutz of a teacher, but she knows her stuff.

Of course, there are moments that Cardin and his bands of bullies mocked her and took fun in her misery, and Ember has to be restrained, either by his leader or the other male students here usually Lloyd and Brock together.

The lesson was eventful to say the least, but there is one thing that they all learn here.

NEVER anger Raine Aoi Sapphire.

* * *

It is the middle of the night, Team RAEM is deep in slumber from the long lessons that have played over. Raine, however was still awake. He opened up his scroll, reading the message that he received only a couple of minutes ago.

"Time for work…"

He smirked before rummaging through his suitcase quietly, taking out a black hooded trench coat with white rims and the symbol of a wild flame with a sword down the middle on its back and a white upside-down cross on the shoulders. Changing his clothes, Raine now wore the coat over a dark grey turtleneck jacket with black pants and white combat boots.

He now has a different sword, this one is a white handle chokuto with a silver tsuba has a silver metal sheathe that has a gun trigger guard near the side the guard. The end of the handle dangles a black chain connected to a pendant shaped like the emblem on his coat.

Opening the window quietly, he pulls his hood over and leaped out, disappearing into the darkness of the light.

…

_To be continued…_

**Oh! Plot twist! Sorry I took this long  
to upload this. I never got around to  
writing this with all that happened this  
past week.**

**As I have stated in my A/N chapter, the  
creator of Monty Oum has passed and  
the entire RWBY fandom community  
is mourning for his death.**

**I have mourn long enough and decided  
to add in the latest chapter of this fic  
at long last. Also, I have thought long  
and hard on how to process the story  
and how to develop each character  
properly, either by character arcs or  
chapters dedicated to building their  
relationships with others.**

**Oh, and Raine won't become Gary-Sue  
like, say… Kirito of SAO for example.  
(Not that I hate him, just he was rather  
bland of a character if compared to the  
others)**

**Now, I might start making use of some  
of the OC some of you have submitted  
in later chapters but I might change their  
roles a little.**

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**


	7. Chapter 5

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

**Chapter 5 Jaune and Raine, Heroes-in-training**

* * *

Raine looked over at the duel between Cardin Winchester, and Jaune Arc. He flinched as he saw the larger teen smashes his mace at the blonde after his poor attempt of attacking him that sends him skidding across the floor and his shield out of his hand. 'That's gotta hurt…'

Jaune then attempted to strike down his opponent, Cardin laughed at the terrible attempt as he blocked it with his mace towering over the shorter blonde, "This is the part where you lost."

"Over my dead-" Jaune never got to finish his sentence as he was kneed in gut hard, causing him to lose his grip on his sword as he falls to the ground in pain on his knees. Cardin raised his mace, ready to slam it down on him when the buzzer rings.

"Cardin, that's enough!" Glynda shouted stopping the match, the taller male clicked his tongue in annoyance as he walked off the stage and Pyrrha rushes to aid her leader and partner, "Students, as you can see, Mr Arc's aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and the official may call the match."

"Jaune really got floored…" Raine muttered.

"The poor kid never stood a chance." Akai stated.

"I'm actually quite surprised that he was even accepted into Beacon." Leaf stated, "He doesn't even know how to brace with his shield properly."

"Indeed…" Gamma stated, "He has no combat training experience whatsoever. What did he do to get into Beacon?"

"Bribed his way in?" Torque asked.

"No, Headmaster Ozpin isn't the type to accept bribes." Ember stated.

"So… family connections, maybe…?" Ivy asked.

"The Arc family is known for producing generations of famous Huntsmen." Moon stated.

"But even then, he should have at least some basic training at least." Gamma stated.

"Remember everyone." Glynda started talking to them all, "The Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other Kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!"

The bell rings, signalling the end of class as everyone starts to flock out, Raine looked over at Jaune getting up with Pyrrha's help but had his head down in shame.

* * *

Now at the cafeteria, everyone was absorbed in their meal or their own things, especially Nora who was explaining to everyone on an amazing dream she had last night with Ren correcting her once in a few sentences. "How does he even know what she is dreaming…?" Moon asked.

"I don't know, but that sounds amazing!" Torque said cheerfully, "Gamma, do you know what I dreamt of last night?"

"…No…" Gamma said.

"Well then, I-"

"We don't want to know, Torque!" Leaf and Ivy shouted.

"Boo~Party-poopers…"

Raine is just having a sandwich, looking at Jaune playing his food aimlessly. He took a bite out of his food as he carried on staring at him.

"Jaune? Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked worriedly.

"Huh?" Jaune snapped out of his daze, "Oh, yeah, I'm totally fine! Why?"

"It's just that you seem a little…" Ruby tells him.

"Distracted, is the word she meant." Raine added, "Are you having troubles with the classes?"

"Guys, I'm fine! Seriously!" Jaune said smiling and holding a thumbs up nervously, before his smile dropped a little as Raine notices where he is looking. Cardin and his team, CRDL, are picking on a rabbit Faunus girl with brown hair and bunny ears, Sky Lark making mocking impressions of her ears with his fingers.

"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!" Pyrrha cried.

"Who? Cardin Winchester?" Jaune asked, "Nah… he just likes to mess around! You know, practical jokes!"

"He's a BULLY." Ruby stated firmly.

"Oh please!" The blonde laughed, "Name ONE time he, 'bullied', me."

"He pushed you around in the hallways." Moon stated.

"It was an accident!"

"He opened up your shield by the doorway." Leaf stated.

"Malfunction! I accidentally opened it up a few times myself."

"He locked you in your locker and rockets you out of campus!" Ember cried.

"Wait that was you?" Raine stated, "Because I bet Cardin that a person will be able to fit into one of the lockers and lift off with relative ease. Easiest hundred Lien I've ever gotten."

"Raine…" Pyrrha growled.

"Hey, I didn't know it was him!"

"Relax, Pyrrha, I didn't even land that far from the school!" Jaune stated.

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask." She tells him.

"OH! We'll break his legs!" Nora stated cheerfully.

"I'll smash his nose in!" Torque added.

"Guys, really! It's fine!" Jaune tells them, "Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to ME. He's a jerk to everyone."

They all looked over to the situation at the table on the other side of the cafeteria, Cardin pulling on the ears of the poor rabbit girl as his team laughs at her, "OW! That hurts!"

"…No one saw this." Akai stated as she pulls out her sniper rifle out of nowhere and aimed at the bully's head, "4000 Lien, Jaune."

"Whoa!" Raine quickly take the weapon away before any other students, or Glynda Goodwitch, saw it, "What are you doing?-!"

"Taking out the trash."

"At least wait till after lunch!"

"That's still a really bad idea!" Moon cried.

"You two are one crazy pair…" Ember muttered.

"Atrocious…" Pyrrha growled, "I can't STAND people like him!"

"You're not the only one." Ember tells her as he glared at the teen angrily.

"It must be hard, being a Faunus." Yang stated sadly.

"Especially with all the discrimination around." Leaf added, "Even decades after the whole Human-Faunus war, there are still hostilities between the two."

"It is because of people like him that makes me wonder if the White Fang is actually the good guys in all of this." Moon stated.

"Terrorist scum, they are!" Weiss stated angrily, "I can't believe that you will side with the White Fang of all people!"

"I-I'm not!" Moon cried.

"Easy, Snow Angel." Raine tells the heiress.

It was then that Yang's scroll rings, she taking it out and opening it up to view the article, "Wow. They are really making a ley way for this."

"For what?" Ruby asked curiously.

"This." She opened up her scroll wider to everyone can see the article on it, "That hooded vigilante made it to headlines again. Over the past weeks, the police gotten busts of many crime dens all over Vale that has been going on for a while. Street gangs, burglars, even heists made by that Torchwick crook were stopped by him, violently as well."

"Oh yeah, I've heard of him." Leaf stated, "The police are calling him a wannabe-hero, a hindrance to the force and a criminal. But the papers are calling him one, a hero to the people."

"A vigilante, no matter how much good he is doing, is a criminal in my books." Weiss huffed angrily.

"I think he is cool!" Torque said happily.

"He did a better job than the police in my opinion." Akai stated, "Sometimes, it takes fire to put out a fire."

"Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth…" Ivy muttered.

"I hope we get to see him in person!" Ruby said cheerfully.

Pyrrha looked at Raine accusingly, the teen looked at the red haired warrior confused, "What?"

"Can I have a word with you?" She asked him as she drags him away by the collar much to his protest, "We'll see you at the next class!" He called out, "Pyrrha let go, you'll pull the collar off!"

Jaune looked at the article, sighing in defeat as he saw the very thing that he wanted to be in the papers. He picked up his tray and walked away to put it away, Cardin looking at him suspiciously from afar.

* * *

Raine knew that Professor Oobleck was hyper when he have his daily intake of caffeine, but today seems to speed past him like lightning. After his talk with Pyrrha, he helped the professor with gathering his notes from the staff offices as well as helping him in getting his hourly coffee (He often zooms out of the lecture hall with his empty cup and returning with a filled one).

He must have accidentally gave him the extra-strong one as the moment he sips it, he has been on fast-forward since the start of the lesson, which is a VERY long time.

It is pretty much amazing that he was able to speak complete sentences clearly, but pretty rushed, as he gave his lecture.

"THIS is prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War!" He zooms to the front of the class, "Humankind was quite, quite ADAMANT about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." He zooms around before stopping at the map and pointing his stick at the map at the location of said place, "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively RECENT events!" He zooms around some more around the hall stopping at a random spot at the front as the students tried their best to follow his movements, "Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" He zooms to the teacher table and taking a sip from his mug, "Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated BECAUSE of your Faunus heritage?"

Few of the students raised their hands, including Ivy and the rabbit girl from the cafeteria, but surprisingly not Ember. "You sure?" Raine asked him.

"I simply beat up those racist assholes." He stated.

"That's a really bad thing to do, Ember!" Moon cried.

"Dreadful, simply DREADFUL! Remember kids, it is PRECISELY this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" Oobleck stated. RAM all looked at Ember, the fox Faunus looked at them annoyed, shrugging his shoulder in response. "I mean, I mean, I mean, look at what happened to the White Fang! Now, which one of you young scallions can tell me what many theorised to be the turning point in the third year of the war?" Weiss raised her hand, "Yes?"

"The Battle of Fort Castle!"

"Precisely! AND, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

At this point, Jaune was dozing off on the table and Cardin has crumbled up a ball of paper which he tossed and landed onto his head, waking him up. "Hey!"

"Ah! Mr Arc!" Oobleck zoomed to the blonde, "Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Very excellent! What is the answer?"

"Uuuhhhh… the answer…" He stuttered, Pyrrha looking over at him from behind the green haired professor wording out the answer, "…The advantage the Faunus have…" He then looked over at Raine from the corner of his eyes, he pointed at Ember who glared at him angrily, "…over that guy's stuff…" He then recalled the many conversations Raine had with Ember about Faunus' eye sight, "…Night Vision…!"

"Correct!" Oobleck said happily, "Looks like someone have been studying well!"

"Tch! Lucky guess!" Cardin muttered angrily at his failed attempt to humiliate the blonde.

"Then, Mr Winchester, what would you say is the answer?" The professor asked.

"I say it's because it is easier to train an _animal_ than a soldier." Cardin stated smugly.

"You're not the most open-minded individuals, are you Cardin?" Pyrrha said annoyed.

"What? You got a problem?" He asked angrily.

"Keep that up, Cardin, and you'll regret it in the future." Raine tells him, "The next time you fall asleep, a Faunus might be there ready to gut your liver out."

"Indeed, Mr Winchester." Akai added on, "If you pay attention in class for once, maybe you'll avoid the same fate as General Lagune, being remembered as a _failure_."

"Why you-!"

"Mr Winchester! Please take your seat." Oobleck states firmly, the burly teen sitting back down with a huff, "You can see me after class for additional readings." He took another sip from his mug, "Now moving on!"

* * *

The lesson is over and the students starts to walk out the hall. Team JNPR and RAEM walked out before Raine slung his arm around Jaune, "You guys go ahead. I need a word with blonde and stupid here." He tells them.

"Raine…"

"Relax, Pyrrha." He tells her, "I'll take note of what you say."

Pyrrha looked at him sceptical, Raine simply waved her away, she sighed as NPR and AEM left the hallway, leaving their leaders alone, "Jaune, are you doing alright?" He asked.

"W-What are you talking about? I'm doing great!" Jaune tells him.

"Pyrrha told me." Raine stated, "You're having trouble with the lessons and your grades aren't keeping up. She is worried about you, Jaune. If you need help with your studies, all you have to do is ask."

Oobleck zooms passed them as Cardin walked out, noticing the blonde before smirking to himself. He walked up to him and shoved him down, at least tried to as Raine grabbed his hand tightly, his eyes glaring straight into the bully's, "Do you mind? We're trying to have a conversation here."

"What's the matter, Arc?" Cardin stated mockingly, "Need a babysitter now?"

"You know, I'm a pretty nice guy, really." Raine stated with a smile, "But one thing that really rubs me the wrong way, is a bully." His grip on Cardin tightens with the taller teen hissing in pain, "Now, I'm going let go, and you are going to walk away, got it?"

Cardin looked at him angrily, saying nothing but nodding. Raine let go and he pulls his hand back rubbing his wrist, walking away with a grunt. Jaune looked down in shame, Raine noticing his face and sighed, "Jaune, there's nothing to be ashamed about. If it wasn't me, Ember would have completely obliterated him and Akai would have just straight up killed the guy."

"I'm pathetic, aren't I?" Jaune muttered.

Raine looked at the blonde, before an idea came up, "Hey, come with me." He walked away, Jaune still standing there confused, "Come on!" He pulls him by the back of his shirt.

* * *

Raine and Jaune walked out to a rooftop on one of the buildings, overlooking the central tower of the entire campus. "Raine, I know I'm going through a hard time, but I'm not THAT depressed." The blonde tells him looking over the ledge.

"Jump then." Raine stated, he giving him that WTF look at him before he broke out in laughs, "I'm just kidding. Look, Pyrrha asked me for my help, and I'll do as such. This is a little place of mine that I found during the first week in class. Quiet, secluded, perfect for naps. No one will disturb us here, and you won't get distracted that easily."

"Distracted from what?"

"Our training sessions!" He tells the blonde, "I can help you with your sword techniques and so on. I can't really help you much academics-wise, so I'm your coach for now."

"You think I need help?" Jaune asked.

"Technically, yeah." Raine stated, "Honestly speaking, you are quite the weakest in Beacon at this point."

"Yeah… I noticed…" The blonde sighed dejectedly.

"But! If you work hard enough, you might become stronger than Cardin at least!" He added, "You made it into Beacon, didn't you? That's worth something, right? Although, it is quite fishy on why you are accepted in the first place, considering… well…"

"I know…" Jaune muttered, "…I-I don't really belong here…"

"Now that's just emo, dude." Raine said with a pout, "Of course you belong here!"

"No, I don't!" Jaune's outburst startled his friends, the blue-banged teen stepped back ever slightly, "I… wasn't exactly accepted into Beacon…"

"Um, excuse me…?"

"I didn't go to a combat school, I didn't past any test, I didn't EARN my spot in this Academy!" He looks at him straight in the eye, "I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied!"

"Wait, what?" Raine blinked, "You mean… you FAKED passing the entrance exam? Why in Remnant did you do that?-!"

"Cause this is always what I've wanted to be!" He cried turning away from him, "My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors. They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too. I was just never good enough."

"Then become good enough." Raine tells him, "I can help you-"

"I DON'T want any help!" Jaune shouted in frustration, "I DON'T want to be the damsel in distress. I WANT to be a hero!"

"Jaune-"

"I'm… TIRED of being the lovable idiot, stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives!" The blonde shouted, "Don't you understand? If I can't do this on my own… then what good am I…?"

"…Jaune…" Raine muttered.

"Just… leave me alone… okay…?"

"Clench your teeth."

"Wha-?" Jaune was then given a sucker punch to the face that sends him skidding on the floor hard.

"THAT! Is for lying to Pyrrha, and me." Raine stated as he pulls him up by the collar and head-butt him in the forehead, "THAT! Is for being a selfish prick. No one wants to be weak, Jaune. But no one can achieve everything on their own. Heroes aren't immortal, they are normal people that probably has help reaching to where they are now. I bet your father, your grandfather, his father and so forth, all have teachers, mentors, friends that they relied on time and time again."

"What do you know?" Jaune muttered, "You're pretty strong. Pyrrha talks about you all the time, on how you never shows your true strength in Sanctum, and probably never here. You don't know how it feels like to be the dead weight."

"That's where you're wrong." Raine said angrily, "Everyone has felt what it is like to be powerless, to be weak when everyone around you is strong. That's why we grow stronger, Jaune. Weakness isn't something that pulls you down, it's what pushes you forward."

"…" The blonde looked away, unconvinced.

"…And me being strong? That's not even remotely true." Raine stated walking and sitting down next to him, "I lost my parents when I was ten, saw them getting gunned down by some random bandits. I felt pathetic, that I was unable to protect them, that I was weak. My uncle adopted me, and my siblings. His family was quite an influential one, heard of the Hunter Clan?"

"The famous family that is said to consists of generations of living legends?" Jaune stated.

"My dad's one of them." He stated, getting a shocked expression from his friend, "His brothers, my uncles, are part of the main household. I've never knew about it until that time. My older brother was the prodigy of the family, always getting praises from everyone and even here in Beacon. Me, however, I'm the black sheep. The Hunter Clan have and always been consists of powerhouses, strengths that can obliterate and army with a single attack. Me, I'm more of a speedster myself. I don't have any over the top abilities, no ultimate move that can destroy mountains. So, I was sent to Sanctum to train when my brother was taught by my family's best."

"Wait, so you're a member of THE Hunter Clan?-!" Jaune cried, "You?-! Did Pyrrha knows this?"

"Nope, never told her." Raine stated, "Plus, I don't want to stir up a storm because of this. One Hunter Clan member in Beacon is enough." He looked at his friend, "I've been in my brother's shadow for a long time, but that never stopped me from getting stronger. I train vigorously and diligently, hoping that I may reach his level one day. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate my brother, I respected him with all my heart and he is my goal. I just wanted to be able to stand side by side to him as equals for once."

"Raine…"

He stood up looking at him with a smile, "We both are black sheep of our families, but we can prove them wrong." He offered his hand to him, "Let me help you with doing that." The blonde looked at his friend, processing on what he has just said, and understood what he is driving at, "Then… I'll be troubling you…" He stated as he took the offered hand and stood up.

"Let's start tomorrow, shall we?" Raine stated as he walked off, "We can't keep Pyrrha waiting, now can we?"

"Of course." Jaune nodded as the two walked towards the door and to their dorm. Unknown to them, Cardin Winchester was staying the floor under them and he heard everything. He smirked as his mind already came up with a great plan to humiliate Raine Aoi Sapphire and get him out of his hair, 'Just you wait, Raine…'

* * *

The next day, Team RAEM and JNPR both walked to the school just talking. They did questioned the leaders' discussion yesterday but Raine just answered for them both stating that it is a bro-talk, nothing more. Jaune did not tells his team about Raine's family matters and kept it to himself, even if he is a bit shaken that his first friend in Beacon is part of the Hunter Clan of all things.

When they entered the school, they noticed that several of the students are whispering among themselves when they saw Raine and Pyrrha.

They can't really make out what they are talking about, but Ember did hear a few words, 'Transcripts… Faker… Liar… Failure… Conspiracy… Accomplice… What…?' He thought confused.

"Everyone seems rather cautious of us today." Ren stated.

"I wonder what's up." Moon wonders.

"Raine!" A flurry of rose petals zoomed passed them and skidded to a stop, revealing Team RWBY's leader, Ruby Rose, "Raine! You're not lying, right?-!"

"Huh?" Raine blinked in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"Ruby, slow down!" The rest of her team ran up to them following their leader, Yang shouting, "We're all as curious as you are."

"B-But Yang!" Ruby cried, "If it is true, Raine could get expelled!"

"Expelled?-!" RAEM and JNPR cried out in shock. "Ruby, what are you talking about?-!" Jaune cried, "Why would Raine be expelled?-!"

"I guess you haven't heard." Blake stated, "Somebody has been stating that you have used fake transcript to get into Beacon Academy and Pyrrha was helping in covering it up."

"WHAT?-!" Raine cried, "That's ridiculous! I've sat through the entrance exam with Pyrrha! Ozpin and the professors all know that!"

"That's right! I was there with him when they issued their passing letter!" Pyrrha cried.

"Well, someone is spreading the rumours that you didn't." Weiss stated.

"Not only that, they said that Raine has connections with Ozpin that explains why he hasn't expelled Raine yet." Yang added, "That… isn't true, right…?"

"Of course not!" Raine cried, "You of all people should know that, Yang!"

"Hey! I'm just asking!" The blonde bombshell stated.

"Who are spreading those rumours?" Ember asked.

"I believe it was CRDL." Blake stated, "I've overheard them telling several students at the cafeteria."

"Cardin…" Raine growled, "He has gone too far this time." He stated as he speeds off in a blue blur.

"Raine, wait!" Pyrrha cried, "We got to stop him!"

"Cardin?" Ember asked, "On it."

"No! Raine!"

* * *

At the cafeteria, CRDL are just speaking out loud the ridiculous rumours to everyone in the cafeteria, they all looking at them sceptically. Cardin was particularly loud with his conversation, getting the attention to all the students present and creating gossiping groups.

"Heh, who would have thought that Raine would be a liar, right?" CRDL leader laughed.

"Yeah! And-" Russel was interrupted when the door to the cafeteria is smacked wide opened, Raine visibly stomping towards them, "Cardin Winchester!"

"Ah, here he is! The lying Huntsman!" Cardin laughed as his team laughed along with him.

"So it is you then!" Raine growled as he stood right in front of the bully, noticing the slight height difference as Cardin was a good three inches taller, "What's your deal in this?-!"

"I'm just stating facts." Cardin chuckled, "You are a filthy liar. Like that Nikos, it's about time that everyone knows the truth."

"Pull back that comment on Pyrrha, Cardin!" He shouted, "Or you'll regret it!"

"Go ahead then." Cardin smirked, "If you do, I'll tell Headmaster Ozpin all about it."

"If you're talking about me faking transcripts, then you're sadly wrong. He personally watch over my entrance exam and I've passed it." Raine stated, "He won't believe you."

"Who said it is you?"

"…!" Raine then realized, "How…?"

"You two were pretty loud." Cardin laughed, the rest of his team laughing with him, "So, will you rather see him get expelled, or would you rather see the red head get humiliated?"

He growled angrily, his eyes glaring at him, "I just realize something." He stated, getting a confused look from him, "Won't Ozpin know already by now?"

"Huh?"

"It makes lot of sense… he was that type of character…" Raine muttered, "If that's the case…" He widen his legs a little, "Then I don't need to worry too much!" He lands a sucker punch to Cardin's chest hard, knocking the wind out of him as well as sending him flying into the air.

The rest of his team lunged towards him, Raine swerves around dodging their poor attempt of attacking him and landing several punches and kicks on them hard. Cardin got up grunting in pain as he saw his team being completely obliterated by one person, and gave out a cry as he lunged at him with attempting to punch him, only for Raine to grab his wrist. He punches using his other hand but that was grabbed as well, both wrists now in the hands of his victim.

"Cardin, Cardin, Cardin… you really did dug your own grave now." Raine stated with a frown, "You can pick on anyone you like, I don't care. But this time, you have involved one of my close friends, and I won't have that." He squeezes his wrists tightly and hard, the taller teen already feeling his bones slowly breaking from the force.

"Accept your punishment as a man." Cardin was then kicked in the gut hard, knocking his breath out which Raine followed with a series of punches in light speed that they are a blur that sends him skidding on the ground groaning in pain with countless of bruises all over him and his face.

Team AEM, JNPR and RWBY all arrived at the cafeteria panting, before noticing the large mess that was conceived within the past few minutes. Raine was standing there panting while the entirety of Team CRDL are groaning in pain on the floor.

"Raine…" Pyrrha slowly walked forward, Raine turning around panting as he wiped his forehead, "Hey." He greeted.

"Did he just beat up CRDL?" Jaune asked sceptical.

"I believe he did." Ren stated.

"What is the meaning of this?-!" They flinched at the loud voice, familiar one at that as a certain blonde teacher walked up with a frown on her face and her eyes staring accusingly at Raine, "You, to the Headmaster's office, now!"

Raine sighed as he walked away from the groaning CRDL, following Glynda Goodwitch out of the cafeteria passing his team as well as RWBY and JNPR. It was there that they saw an expression on him that they never thought is possible for someone like him.

A serious frown.

…

* * *

_To be continued…_

**There we go! Raine really have a different  
character all together here, huh? Well, even  
the most cheerful and laidback of characters  
have their serious side, right?**

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**


	8. Chapter 6

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

**Chapter 6 Forever Fall, Hunter Legend**

* * *

The rest of Team AEM along with RWBY and JNPR are at the cafeteria waiting worriedly for their friend to return from the Headmaster office. They don't care if they missed first or second period, they were worried for Raine, especially his team.

"I hope Raine is okay…" Ruby said worriedly.

"He won't get out of this unpunished, that's for sure." Weiss stated, "They could expel him for this, you know."

"Don't say that!" Pyrrha cried slamming her hands on the table.

"Calm down, Pyrrha." Blake tells her, "I'm pretty sure a small fight like this isn't bad enough for that."

"Then, what about…" Moon stated, but didn't want to voice it out. Of course, everyone there knows what she meant. Jaune looked down in guilt, knowing full well who caused this whole mess in the first place.

"GAH! I can't stand this!" Yang shouted standing up, "I'm going to convince Ozpin!"

"Yang, wait!" Ruby cried.

"More we wait, there will be less time to try and turn the verdict around!" The blonde shouted.

"B-But…!"

"Barging into the Headmaster Office isn't the best idea." Blake stated.

"I know that! But if we don't do anything…" Yang muttered.

"And… got it." Akai stated tapping on her scroll, "If you are curious, I managed to hack into the camera inside Ozpin's office. We can see if the verdict will be expulsion or any other punishment."

"You're really good at these kinds of things." Ember stated.

"Come on, show us!" The blonde brawler shouted, the ex-assassin opening her scroll wider and placing it on the table for all to see.

* * *

Raine waited with Glynda Goodwitch in the elevator heading towards Ozpin's office, his mind deep in thought on what to do. On one hand, he could use his authority as part of the Hunter Clan to persuade Ozpin to drop all charges to him, but knowing the man's personality that he would probably tries to make things worse just for the heck of it.

"I'm in deep shit this time…" Raine groaned.

"Indeed you are, Mr Raine." Glynda stated distasted, "You of all people should know the reputation that your family uphold in Beacon, and yet you picked a fight in the cafeteria."

"Cardin Winchester was asking for it since day one!" He argued, "Even if I didn't do anything, other people would have beat him up! Besides, it wasn't really a fight since he couldn't even lay a finger on me."

"Even so, a fight is a fight." She stated, "If I were to pick, I would have ask for suspension and possible expulsion."

"Yeah, yeah…" He stated looking away, "By the way, are you into S&amp;M? With those eyes, the body, your weird love for that horse whip and those legs, you look like a standard dominatrix."

"…"

"I'll… shut up now."

The elevator doors opened, revealing the huge office that is the Headmaster's, Ozpin sitting on his posh arm chair with a cup of caffeine in one of his hands and a file in another, "Ah, Glynda." He greeted as he puts down the files on his table, "Is there a problem?"

"Mr Raine here was caught fighting with a Cardin Winchester in the cafeteria this morning." She tells him as they walked out towards him.

"Technically it isn't a fight, more of a one-sided beat-down." Raine added, getting a glare from Goodwitch. He responded with a zip movement on his lips.

"I see…" Ozpin muttered, "I'll handle it from here. Glynda, you may return to your teaching duties." Glynda nodded as she walked back into the elevator, the door closing with a ding, "Raine."

"Ozpin." Raine greeted.

"Fighting in the cafeteria, huh…?" He muttered looking at him, "As much as I want to say that you did quite a good job with dealing with Mr Winchester, it is still against the rule of fighting outside the arena."

"Hey, he was asking for it for spreading the rumours!" Raine stated angrily.

"Raine, you of all people should know that you have your family's reputation to uphold here in Beacon." Ozpin stated, "The other students may not know, but it would be reflected on your uncle if word goes out."

"I know…" Raine muttered.

"And those… rumours…" The headmaster stated, "Cardin will be dealt with in time even without your interference."

"Even so…"

"Raine, you are just like Nexus says you will be." Ozpin stated, "Kind-hearted, determined, a little pervy but all boys your age are, and a heart of gold. You wouldn't fight him unless something threatened your friends."

"Cardin, he… he threatened to spill the beans of one of my friend's darkest secret." Raine stated.

"I see… wouldn't it happened to be a certain… fellow leader?" The grey-haired man stated.

"So you knew." He said, "Of course you knew, you're Ozpin."

"Have you know why I haven't ratted him out yet?" Ozpin asked.

"You see potential in him." Raine stated, "Just like how you saw potential in Ruby."

"Indeed."

"But even if you can bend the rules slightly, you can't break them." Raine stated, "If someone else would to check the files properly, they would have found out. He would get expelled, and you would be stripped from your position. I can't take that risk."

"I knew that, yet I took that risk." Ozpin stated, "And you know why? Because you are here. You two are peas of the same pod. And I knew you won't abandoned your friend."

"So… you used me."

"Not exactly." Ozpin stated, "You entered Beacon not because you are one of the Hunter Clan, you entered because you earned it. Family has nothing to do with it."

"But, what about Glynda Goodwitch?" Raine asked, "She's stiffer that a boner."

"That's why you are going to help your friend become worthy of the transcripts he delivered." He stated, "I'll arrange a test for him in due time. Until then, make sure he is ready for it."

"You really thought of everything, huh?" Raine stated.

"I didn't get this job for nothing, you know." Ozpin stated, "Now, I have keep you here long enough. Move along, your friends are probably worried about you."

"Thanks Ozpin." Raine stated as he walked towards the elevator, pressing the button to call for it.

"And Raine." The headmaster stated out as the elevator doors opened, "Don't cause TOO much trouble."

"Yeah, sure." He said as he enters the elevator, "Tell Uncle Hishi I say hi!" The door closed behind him as Ozpin looked over at the small camera at the corner of the room overlooking his entire office. He have a small chuckle as he carries on reading through the files he has received, an ominous wooden box lying on the table.

* * *

Raine exited the elevator doors sighing in relief, "Good thing Ozpin isn't in a mischievous mood…" He muttered as he walked down the hallway, just as his scroll ring. Taking it out to receive whoever is calling him, "Hello."

"_Raine?"_

"Oh, Pyrrha." He greeted, "What's up?"

"_You never got any punishment, did you?-!"_ Pyrrha cried, _"We can vouch for you, and-!"_

"W-Whoa, calm down, Pyrrha!" Raine stated, "I'm fine! Don't worry about it! Oz- Headmaster Ozpin just reprimanded me on the fight, nothing more."

"_Really?"_

"Of course!"

"_What about the rumours?"_

"Oh, he just stated that he will take respective punishment to Cardin for spreading false rumours." Raine lied, 'I'm pretty sure that Ozpin will definitely take action for this, but the problem is HOW he plans on doing so…'

"_I see…"_

He notices the stressed tone of her voice, "What's wrong?"

"…_Raine, I'll see you at class."_

The line was then cut off. Raine looked at his scroll in confusion, 'What's with her…?'

* * *

Raine spent the rest of the day following through the classes, testing himself to try to even read Oobleck's speedy lips to sleeping through Port's class when he starts to tell another story of his youth and his manliness. His team along with RWBY as well as JNPR bombarded him with questions of rather he is okay or not, which he assures them that they are okay.

Pyrrha, on the other hand, seems rather distant for some reason, never looking Raine in the eye and sometimes outright avoiding him.

Raine just assumes that she just plenty on her mind, but observing her for a while, this is more than that. It's like something is bothering her, just like the times when Pyrrha was sceptical of entering the winning the third and fourth Mistral tournament.

He decided to talk to her later when they all return to their dorms, after his first tutor lesson with Jaune. Sending him the message to meet him on the roof, he made his way there.

When he reached the roof earlier than the appointed time they agreed on, he was surprised when he saw Pyrrha on the roof.

"Hey there, Raine." Pyrrha greeted.

"NOW you want to talk to me?" Raine stated jokingly.

"…"

"Seriously though, is something the matter, Pyrrha?" Raine asked, "You're avoiding me the entire day and now you appeared here of all places and finally looked at me. Speaking of which, how did you find this place?"

"Jaune told me." Pyrrha stated, "And he told me something else."

"…Is it the fake transcripts thing?" He asked.

"There's that." She stated, "And also, about you."

"…Huh…" He nodded, "Well, what about me?" 'Is she saying what I think she's saying…?'

"Well… first thing, we, as in all of us, kind of… spied on your conversation with Headmaster Ozpin." She stated, "You two seem rather close."

"We ARE close." Raine stated, "He is a friend of my father and uncles, so we met a few times when I was young." He then realized, "Hold on. You… watched the WHOLE conversation?"

"Not really… Jaune stopped it mid-way before we could hear more." She stated, "It took Ember, Leaf, Gamma, and even Torque to hold Yang in place before she could start mauling at him."

"I can imagine…" He stated already imaging the situation in his head.

"We had to get to class when Goodwitch came, and when we were alone he told me everything." Pyrrha stated, "About his fake transcripts, you not telling Ozpin about this and the reason why Cardin is sprouting those rumours about us. He also told me about your secret."

"…Well?"

"I don't believe it until you say so." She stated, looking at him straight in the eye, "Raine, is it true? Are you part of the Hunter Clan?"

"…" Raine scratched the back of his head while sighing, "Yeah."

"…Then… you never told me…?"

"I didn't want to it to blow out of proportion." He stated, "I didn't want rumours to start appearing if they found out. Besides, we have one member of the Hunter Clan attending here already. No need to announce a second one."

"Is that one, your brother?" She asked.

"Yup, the child prodigy of the Hunter Clan." Raine stated, "He taught by the clan's best in every field possible. Compared to a black sheep as myself…"

"…Raine…" Pyrrha muttered, "You could have just told me. I won't think any different."

"I don't want to risk the information getting out." He stated, "You know how thin the dorm walls are in Sanctum."

"Even so!" She cried out angrily, "You don't have to hide it! We have been friends, roommates for four years! I thought I can trust you with everything, even my own insecurities I kept from the public. But to think, that YOU of all people kept such a secret from me for years! And you shared with someone you only befriended for only a month!"

"I don't see the big problem here!" Raine cried, "I'm sure you were angry with Jaune when he told you the truth!"

"It's trust!" Pyrrha cried, "Jaune is my partner and he is willing to share with me his problems and yes I was angry when he hid the truth from me, but YOU! You and I have been friends longer than him and yet you refuses to share some of your troubles with me! Do you not trust me?-!"

"I do trust you!"

"Then why wait?-!" She cried, "Why wait so long to tell me the truth, that I was bunking with the black sheep of the famous Hunter Clan?-!" Raine's eyebrows twitched a little in anger, "Why wait to tell me your troubles with your family?-! Why wait to tell me everything?-!"

"Cause I don't want to have expectations poured on me!" He shouted, startling her, "I'm not like you! I don't like it when people start expecting me to accomplish something JUST because of my family's REPUTATION! I don't like it when people start looking down on me when I failed to meet their expectations! I HATE being seen as some future legend JUST BECAUSE I was born of the freaking Hunter Clan!"

"Raine-"

"I'm sick of it!" Raine cried out tearing flowing out the corner of his eyes, "I'm sick being always compared to be brother, my uncle, my cousins, even my father! My brother is able to meet their expectations, but I wasn't! I couldn't handle it if people outside my own family start to expect great things from me as well!"

"I-"

"You think I don't trust you." He stated, "You're wrong. I DO trust you! I trust you to just let my secrets be secrets. I trust you to NOT place high expectations on me, to let me achieve my goals in my own pace, not because someone thinks I could do so!"

"…"

"Leave." Raine growled, "Now!"

Pyrrha looked down in shame as she walked passed him. He could see tears start to flow passed her cheeks as she walked out of the roof via the door. What she did not expect is to bump into Jaune as she turned the corner. Shocked to see his partner walking passed him weeping, he ran onto the roof to find out who done such a deed and found Raine standing there looking over at the moon illuminating the night sky.

"Raine!" Jaune shouted.

"Jaune, huh?" Raine muttered, "We have talked for that long…"

"What's the deal with Pyrrha?-!" He shouted as he stomped towards him getting angrier with every step, "What's the deal with you?-! You two are really close, almost like brother and sister, and you made her cry?-!"

"You should leave it at that." Raine stated, "It's our problem, not yours."

"It IS my goddamn problem when MY partner is hurt because of you!" Jaune shouted.

"…" Raine turned around and walked towards him with his head down, "Let's start our lessons tomorrow night." As he passed the blonde, Jaune notices the dry stains of tears on his cheeks and before he could ask anymore he turned the corner and exited the roof, leaving the blonde completely confused.

* * *

It has been a couple of weeks since that incident in the cafeteria. Cardin and his team have been punished appropriately for spreading the false rumours with detention and having to help Professor Port with his books and notes, and Raine is put off the case.

Even so, Team RAEM has been rather distant with their leader. Raine hardly talked to anyone, came back to the dorms late, this got Akai, Ember and Moon worried. He even hardly crack a pervy joke or remark to Akai, or any of their female friends.

JNPR too was worried with one of their teammates. Pyrrha seems distracted all the time, making small mistakes in areas that she excel in. Nora and Ren are troubled by their teammate's behaviour and their leader is worried for her. He knows that it is a problem that must be solved between the two, but they have made no effort to do so.

It was soon the night before the field trip arranged by Professor Peach and everyone is in their dorms resting up or checking their equipment.

Pyrrha sat by the window looking out at the night sky with the broken room shining down on them. She sighed dejectedly while the rest of her team is busy with their own stuff, Ren checking up and loading up his twin guns, Stormflower with Nora jumping on her bed and Jaune is just lying down on the bed tired.

"Pyrrha is acting pretty off of late." Ren stated.

"She and Raine has been rather distant and off since that rumour blown over." Nora stated.

"She'll be fine, I guess…" Jaune muttered, "It's probably just a quarrel between friends."

"Mmm…" Nora wonders as she landed on her bed on her back with a plop, "I guess so."

Jaune looked over at Pyrrha, the red-head looking out the window before sighing and shifting to his side.

Outside in the courtyard, Raine swinging Kotegiri and Fudo around in tune. His jacket is gone leaving only his vest on and showing off his well-tuned biceps and forearms. With a swift swing, he finishes one set and breathed out a sigh.

"Working hard?"

He lowered his swords as he heard his partner's voice, Akai walking up to him from the dorm in her casual outfit minus the vest.

"Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?" Raine asked.

"Aren't you too?" Akai asked, "We have a field trip tomorrow, and we need our rest. That includes you."

"I've spend ten days without sleep and still function." Raine stated, "I think I can handle not sleeping for one night."

"I've spent three weeks not sleeping and stalking my target without even leaving to head to the bathroom." Akai added, "And yet I take my beauty sleep too."

"Wait, are you for real?" He blinked.

"I jest." She said with a deadpan expression, "The point is that you need to sleep, Raine. You need to be at full strength to perform well."

"Fine, I'll sleep. Just go back to the dorm, I'll catch up." He tells his partner, the ex-assassin shook her head as she sighed in annoyance before heading back indoors. Raine looked up in the broken moon, raising his blade up towards the moon. He remained in that position for a full minute before moving the crossguard close between his eyebrows and closed his eyes.

"In the darkest night and brightest day, our flames shall burn away. The evil of this world beware, of our swords raised high, of evil's bane." He muttered.

"The Creed of Light; pledge one." Another voice spoke.

He turned around, finding Yang of all people standing there in a yellow tank-top and black shorts with yellow sandals.

"Huh, know of it?" Raine asked.

"Your dad's library has a lot of books about them." She stated, "And, you kept reciting them since we were kids. You really love their creed back then, always engrossed in their books."

"They are better than getting dragged around against my will." He added.

"Your dad and mom wanted you to get some exercise!"

"Not when I'm getting dragged around like a rag doll!"

They both stopped taunting at each other, staring at each other fiercely before they laughed lightly, "Do we really have to start our conversations like this?" Yang laughed.

"You're the one who started it." Raine stated as he sheathed his swords, "Still, it is great to talk to someone I know."

"Tough weeks, I presume?" She asked.

"Yang, I really don't want to get into it." He said.

"Raine, I know you since we were five." She stated, "You always busied yourself with something when you're upset. So tell me, what's wrong?"

"…" Raine sighed, "It's… just a quarrel with a friend… I've kept my bloodline a secret for a long time from her and she found out and got really pissed. I lost it when she stated I was the black sheep and lashed it back at her."

"…Is it Pyrrha?"

"Was it that obvious?" He asked, getting a nod from the bombshell of a blonde, "Look, I can get why she is mad at me, keeping the secret of me being part of the Hunter Clan is pretty big. But to get that pissed off is a little overkill to me."

"And yet you told Jaune?" She asked, surprising Raine, "I've overheard him and Pyrrha talking." He groaned in annoyance, "As a girl myself, I can get why she is rather angry. You hid your bloodline from her, a friend and dorm mate in your years in Sanctum. And yet you told Jaune, a friend you made just a couple of months. She is upset at how little trust you placed on her compared to him."

"Look, I wanted to tell her since our third year." He stated, "But with Nexus accepting into Beacon, her tournament, then our exams, I've never found a chance to tell her in secret. Not to mention…" His face blushed a little before shaking his head, "Now that you say it like that, I guess it's kind of my fault for stalling it for so long."

"Yup." Yang nodded, "This grave is dug by you."

"Oh man… I should apologized to her…" He muttered.

"Indeed you shall." She stated, "But maybe after the field trip. It's getting late and I need my beauty sleep." She yawned into her hands as she walked away, "See you in the morning, BB."

"Yeah, see ya." Raine stated, before turning and looking over the platform to view the illuminated city under him. He proceed to walk away back into the campus.

* * *

The next day, it is the field trip to Forever Fall. The trees of red leaves falling down and floating with the winds surrounds the six teams as looked in awe with Glynda Goodwitch leads them deeper into the beautiful forest, "Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so." She stated as she stopped and faced them.

"That's a pain…" Akai muttered, "I was hoping to get Cardin into a Grimm accident and get him killed…"

"That's… just… diabolical." Ember stated.

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap." Goodwitch explained lifting up her jar filled with said content for them to see, "However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here by 4 0'clock. Have fun!"

Every team split up to find these trees with taps and jars provided by the staff. RAEM and JNPR ended up in the same area with their respective teammates tapping into the trees with the taps and started filling the jars with red sweet sap. At one point, Raine took one tap and start filling up his jar when Pyrrha passed by behind him to tap into another tree.

'Sooner than later, I guess…' Raine muttered as he turned off the tap and placed down the jar of filled sap before proceeds to walk up to the red-head.

"Hey." She looked back at him, before gave him a frown and return to her task, "Cold shoulder, I see." He sighed, "Pyrrha, look. I'm really sorry for keeping it a secret from you. I wanted to tell you but there has been a lot going on in the few years and I didn't want to distract you too much. I trusted you as much as I trust a sister, Pyrrha, you have believe me on that."

"…" She sighed before standing up and faced him, "I'm not angry at you, Raine. I'm just a little disappointed in the lack of trust you have with me. But I guess even the best if friends have secrets from each other they won't want them to know."

"So, you're not angry at me anymore?"

She shook her head, "But, you're going to place more trust on me now. Don't bottle everything up next time." She stated poking his chest with her index finger, "Friends?"

"Friends." He nodded shaking her hand. He then felt a tick in his head, "Lend me your rifle for a minute." He drew out Pyrrha's sword from her back and switch it to gun mode and turned around and aimed far, pulling the trigger and the shot rang startling everyone in the vicinity especially Jaune who ran up to them worried.

They could then hear a loud cry of annoyance as they turn to see Cardin with his head covered with red sap and his team looked at him in shock, "That's what you get for trying to be stupid!" Raine shouted, "By the way, red's a great colour for you! Maybe you should try painting yourself red! Makes it more interesting!"

"D-Damn you, Sapphire!" Cardin shouted back. Raine took a hard stomp up front, scaring him as he tripped backwards, knocking the bottles of red sap down and spreading their contents all over him.

The entirety of JNPR and RAEM laughed at his misfortune as the burly teen stomped away angry.

"You scared him good!" Nora cheered.

"Impressive." Ren stated.

"To predict him that far away, you're extraordinary." Akai stated, "How did you do that?"

"It's… hard to explain." Raine stated.

"As usual." Pyrrha giggled.

"It just means I'm so amazing that even I myself can explain my own skills!" He announced to them all, getting a laugh from all of them.

"Glad to have the cocky leader back." Ember stated.

Jaune looked away in shame, Raine noticed and walked up to him, "Jaune, there's nothing to be ashamed for." He stated patting his shoulder.

"I couldn't even protect my own partner…" He muttered.

"I've heard a gunshot, did something happened?" Goodwitch asked as she rushed to the scene with the teams of RWBY, LIGT and BLAZ running up to them.

"Nothing really, besides scaring the pants out of a certain bully." Raine stated.

"Oh? By shooting him?" She asked unamused.

"I hit the jar!" He added defensively, "I didn't aimed at him directly."

"It is okay, Miss Goodwitch." Pyrrha tells her, "No one was injured."

"Physically, anyway." Ember stated.

"…" Goodwitch sighed, "Fine, but you better made another scene like last time."

"Duly noted, Dominatrix." He chuckled with a mock salute, getting a glare from her, "Okay, okay, I won't say it again."

She then left with a huff as she walked away as Yang walked up to him, "You go, BB." She chuckled as she gently punched his shoulder, Raine feeling his shoulder plate rattle on impact.

"Thanks, I guess." He stated nervously as he rubbed his poor shoulder. He then noticed Torque tied up with rope and in the arms of his partner, the hooded student holding him like a sack of potatoes, "What's with him?"

"He drank twenty jars of sap and got sugar high." Leaf stated.

"OhmygodIfeelsogoodrightnowthatIwanttojumcanIjumpofcourseIcanjumpjumpjumpjumpjumpjumpjumpjumpjumpjumpjumpjumpjumpjumpjumpjumpjumpjump" The rat Faunus rattled on shaking under Gamma's arm.

"Can we tape his mouth as well?" The spear user asked coldly.

"No tape." Ivy stated.

"Gag him then?" He asked.

"Are all Faunus teams like this?" Zi asked her teammates, they looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

Raine then felt another tick in his head and turn around just as an Ursa's roar is heard throughout the forest.

"Did you guys hear that?" Ruby asked worriedly.

"I think the entire forest heard it." Lloyd stated. Brock closed his eyes as he let his echolocation semblance ring throughout the forest, getting a very bad beep on his radar.

"Guys, I think we are in trouble." He tells them, just as RDL all rushed out running the opposite direction of the roar, screaming out Ursa over and over. Yang picked up Russel by his shirt as he tries to run in the air, "Where?-!" She cried.

"B-Back there! I-It's got Cardin!" He cried out before Yang let go of him as he ran off.

"Shit! It's the sap!" Raine cried, "Akai, I need you to scout out the area for any Grimm. Ember, you and Moon go get Goodwitch." They nodded as they ran off.

"Brock, help Akai." Lloyd tells him, "The rest of us will go with them. There might be more of them." He nodded as he followed the girl.

"Pyrrha, Jaune, I'm counting you to protect them." He tells them as he sped off into the forest in a blue blur.

"Raine, wait!" Ruby cried as she sped after him in a shower of rose petals.

"Ruby!" Yang cried out just as Weiss stopped her, "I'll go after her." She tells the blonde before running into the forest.

* * *

With Cardin, the burly teen now is scrambling away as his mace is knocked away from him and he is scared shitless from his fear of his life. The black bear monster crawled up to him as it raised its claw ready to swipe down at him.

A blue blur zoomed out of the trees and blocked the claw with two blue swords. Raine grunted a little before kicking the Ursa back with an aura-infused kick, the black beast rolled and crashing into a tree from the force.

"You okay?" He asked the bully.

"Sapphire, what…?"

"Get out of here." Raine tells him, "And stay on your guard. There might be more of them around."

Cardin nodded and ran to pick up his weapon and left. The swordsman than turned to the black bear with a cocksure smile, "Come on then, Mr Fluffy. Let's play." He taunted as the Ursa roared out at him charging with its claws swiping down at him. Raine dodged the claws left and right, leaping over a swiping attack to his feet before blocking a surprise move on him in the air with his two swords.

Raine rolled in the air and skids to a stop on the grass with a smirk. He dashes forward and slashes through one of its paws, slicing it off before turning around and slashing down at it. The beast growled weakly before a thin line split in the middle and it split right into two perfect halves.

He swings both his swords out to remove any impurities on the blades before sheathing them with a click, just as Ruby and Weiss arrived at the scene to see the already dissipating corpse of the Grimm.

"You're late. The party ended already." Raine laughed.

"You are just too fast!" The younger girl cried out, "Even I'm not that fast!"

"I wasn't nicknamed the Blue Flash in Sanctum for nothing you know." He stated proudly.

"I thought your nickname was Azure Knight." Weiss stated.

"Two of the many nicknames I have gathered over the years!" He laughed.

"If our business is done, let's get back to the others." Ruby stated.

"Agreed." The Schnee heiress stated.

They then heard a large collection of roars coming from the rendezvous point. Raine's hairs stood on their ends as a siren rang at the back of his head, "That's not good…" Ruby muttered.

"We need to go, NOW!" Raine cried as he ran forward in a blue blur.

"Wait for us!" Weiss cried as she and her partner chases after him, "Not all of us is speedsters!"

* * *

The remaining teams all hurdled around each other as they are faced with thousands of Beowolves. But something is much different from them than the normal ones. They all have black armour pads on their shins and shoulders, and their spines are obsidian black along with their masks with red markings.

They growled out as they cornered the many hunters and huntress on the spot. Blake charges forward slashing down at one of them, her blades bouncing off its skin, shocking her just as it grabs her head and thrown it back towards her partner, Yang catching her.

She growled slightly as her gauntlets, Ember Celica, clocked back and she fired a series of shotgun bursts at them, they crashing into them but they simply walked to through the smoke unharmed. She roared out as she charges forward with hair blazing and punches the closest one, who grabbed her fist with a bone-crushing grip and flung her away back to her partner.

Ember drew out his twin blades, switching them into their gun mode and starts firing at them, his shots bouncing off them with no significant damage on them. His partner joined in his assault with her gauntlet bow out and starts firing arrows at them too to no avail.

Alter drew out his long sword that he split into two and combine the handles to form a bladed bow that he drew the energy string emitting from the blade tips. Lloyd looked around with his long two prong sword drawn emitting electricity, Zi too looked around anxiously at the insane amount of the strong Beowolves, "What now, Lloyd?" She asked nervously.

"I-I'm not sure…" He stuttered, "This is the first time I've saw this type of Grimm…"

Gamma let out a beastly growl at the Beowolves, his spear already in its twin blade form and Torque still tied up and on his back. Leaf has his twin swords out and Ivy revving the chainsaw part of her sniper rifle in response.

Jaune and Pyrrha has their sword and shields out along with Nora and Ren who has their respective weapons drawn and cocked. The blonde knight's knees are shaking his terror, the sensation the black beasts are emitting are terrifying him. 'T-This is impossible…! We're going to die…!'

"It's over! We're all going to die!" Russel cried.

"Calm down!" Pyrrha cried, "Grimm are attracted to negative emotions! You mustn't let them get to you!"

"She is right!" Goodwitch tells her students, "Everyone, remain strong! We have to pull through until reinforcements arrive!"

"Jaune, it's okay." The spear wielder assures her leader, "We'll make it."

"Pyrrha…" The blonde gritted his teeth in annoyance, 'Every time… I'm always saved by someone else… Am I truly worthy of standing next to them…? A faker like myself…?'

One of the armoured wolves took notice of his negative thoughts and rushed towards the blonde knight, shocking his partner, "Jaune, look out!" she cried as she pushes him out of the way, getting hit by it in the gut that sends her flying away from the group and crashing into one of the trees.

The many Grimm took notice and rushes towards her, Pyrrha trying to get back up with the attack. "Pyrrha!" Jaune cried as he starts running towards her. The scene starts to play in slow motion as his eyes widen in shock at the fated death of his partner, 'No! I won't allow it!' He shouted in his mind as he forces his body to move faster.

* * *

This attracted a force, a bright light shone bright from within the box on Ozpin's table, catching his attention. It broke into a million pieces as white glowing orb floated in the air before it shoots into the sky.

The headmaster of Beacon stared at the scene before smiling, "Now this is interesting…" He muttered.

* * *

The bright orb soars over the skies, until it reaches Forever Falls. It senses the good within an individual and flew down towards a certain blonde running towards his partner. Everyone all looked in shock as they saw a white light zooms passed them and Jaune before stopping in front of Pyrrha and glowed brightly.

The sudden bright light completely obliterated the black wolves into nothing, leaving the spear user staring in shock. "What in the…?"

It floats around, zooming right to left as the large horde of Grimm growled and roared out at the ball of light. Jaune manages to reach Pyrrha kneeling down to help her up, "Are you hurt?"

"No, that thing saved me…" She muttered, her partner turning to the bright orb. It floats to right in front of Jaune, circling the blonde's head for a while. It then enters Jaune's shield, Crocea Mors, a bright glow illuminated the entire area, killing off several more of the armoured wolves.

As the glow settled down, a bright dome of translucent white energy surrounds the two and the entire group, "What in Remnant…?" Blake muttered.

"A force field…" Ivy muttered in surprise.

"Is this his semblance?" Ember wonders out.

"Are you doing this, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

"I-I…I don't know." Jaune stated in shock, "That ball of light entered my shield and this happened."

Just that moment, Weiss and Ruby entered the area with their weapons drawn along with Akai and Brock. "What…?" The heiress looked at the dome in shock.

"Ruby! Weiss!" Yang cried, "You're okay!"

"Where's Raine and Cardin?-!" Ember called out.

"We don't know!" Ruby cried, "We lost them on our way here!"

Akai raised her rifle at the armoured Grimm, Brock drew out his boomerangs from his arm guards and threw them at the Grimm, they bouncing off the black creatures as they roared out at them, "What the…?-!" He muttered in shock.

Ruby let out a battle cry as she flashes forward in a storm of rose petals as she raised her scythe at the creatures, locking onto its neck but unable to penetrate the flesh despite firing several rounds from the rifle part of her weapon. It swings its claw and grabbed her by the neck as it raises her up in the air.

"Ruby!" Weiss cried as she dashes in with her rapier ready to strike it down but she was then flung away with a swipe of the wolf's claw. Akai let loose a series of rifle rounds on it, the high-impact concussion rounds bouncing off its skin leaving no damage on its body.

"Ruby!" Yang cried out as she tries to get up only to be stopped by Blake. "You can't!" She cried, "You'll die!"

"Better than letting my sister die!" She cried.

*SHINK*

A sword cuts through the wolf's wrist, slicing its hand off its arm as it let out a howl in pain. Ruby fell and landed into a pair of arms belonging to a black hooded figure, a man in a black hooded coat. "Y-You're…!" Ruby cried.

"The Hooded Vigilante!" Yang cried.

"What is he doing here in the forest?" Blake wonders.

He puts down Ruby gently, she never getting a good look but she did saw glowing blue eyes under the shadow of the hood and single blue bang of hair. He turned to the Beowolves, the wolves growled out loudly as they charges towards him. He swings his hand and smashes the scabbard of his sheathed sword on their faces that sends them flying back.

With a twirl of his wrist, he spun the sheathed sword into a ready position as he pressed on the trigger on the scabbard, the blade of the chokuto propped out from its confinement, revealing its white blade with an obsidian black edge as the man drew it out. When it is fully drawn, it shows the double edged tip of the blade.

He pointed the sword at the beasts, flicking it up a few times as a silent [Come on!]. The many Beowolves lunged towards him, he dashes forward, slicing through the first few in the torso before slicing one through neck decapitating its head and sheathing his sword.

Several others charge at him, which he drew at a sound breaking speed that cuts through all of them with a strike and pressing up enough wind pressure that sends the others flying. He charges towards them as he sheathed his blade and leaped to within them in the air and spun while slicing up those close enough to get damage and landed down in front of them as the pieces of their corpses landed on the dust red grass.

The hooded hero looked up just in time to dodge a swipe from a Beowolves by leaping back before dashing forward and swings a sword uppercut that sends it into the air that he begins to slash several times in the air before diving down his sword that drives it through its skull and crashing the body into the ground hard, the resulting impact shook the ground around him.

He pulled out his blade and sheathed it, holding it ready to draw it in front of him as a blue glow illuminates from the scabbard. The rest of the horde charges at him not expecting a major attack, which he pulled off when he drew his blade out in a fast pace, several sword strikes slices through them that carries on until the blade is sheathed again, leaving them on the grass dead.

Everyone looked at him in shock, amazed by his power and skill that pales even Pyrrha Nikos. Weiss even blushed a little as her heart skipped a beat.

He looked over to the dome of light, Jaune showing clear signs of fatigue as he is kneeling on the ground panting with his shield raised. The group looked at the hooded figure, as he walked towards them with a hand on the sword handle. With a swift pull, he drew his sword that slices the dome, destroying their barrier.

Sheathing his sword, he walked up to Jaune, the blonde now having his shield in its sheath state and panting really badly with Pyrrha holding onto him worriedly. The blonde knight looked up at him, the hooded hero kneeled down in front of him reaching his hand out for him. Jaune blinked at the surprising act of kindness, accepted it as he was pulled up on his feet.

"Good job."

He tells him patting his shoulder, Jaune hearing the very familiar voice took a step back in shock, the hero raised his finger to his lips as a gesture of secrecy before running off into the forest away from their sight.

"Now this is something we don't see every day." Yang stated.

"Still think he's a menace now, Weiss?" Ruby asked smugly.

"Yes, I do." Weiss stated firmly, before turning away blushing, "But not as much…"

"Oh~ A crush, princess?" Yang giggled.

"N-No!"

"If you guys can finish gossiping, can we go and find Raine?" Leaf asked.

"Agreed." Akai muttered.

"No need!" Just as they said, Raine appears walking towards them with Cardin limping and his arm on the shorter teen's shoulder.

"There you guys are!" Moon cried, "We were worried!"

"Yeah, had to side-track when I saw this fella." He tells her, "Get this. He tripped and got his ankle dislocated by a root. A ROOT! Then another Ursa appears and I have to save him, AGAIN!"

"Wow, Cardin. Aren't you pathetic or what?" Ember mocked him, getting an angry growl from the burly teen. This prompt Raine to push him off his shoulder as he watched he dropped onto the ground, hard.

"Raine, you missed the show!" Ruby cried, "The Hooded Vigilante showed up, and he was all like WOOSH! And he leaped into the air, he cut them all down like butter than he did this awesome stunt that is SO COOL~! Gosh, you should have seen it!"

"Seems like I have missed quite a lot." Raine chuckled.

Jaune looked over at Raine suspiciously, Pyrrha noticing him staring before looking back at Raine, the red head giggled a little.

* * *

Later that night, the entire team of JNPR all entered their dorm tired and exhausted from the events that occurred on their field trip. "Man, I'm beat…" Jaune groaned collapsing onto the bed tired.

"You can't be tired now! The night is still early!" Nora cheered.

Ren sighed at his friend's near endless stamina before he took notice of a piece of paper on the floor near the window. He picked up the note, finding it addressed to his leader. "Jaune, there's a note for you." He stated.

The blonde leader took the leader from Ren, reading its contents out loud, "Jaune, meet me at the rooftop at midnight. Bring your sword. Signed, Raine."

"Why would Raine leave note saying that?" Nora asked.

"How did he get the note in here in the first place?" Ren wonders.

"Well, no matter." Jaune stated, "I wish to talk to him anyway."

* * *

As the clock struck midnight, Jaune entered the roof via the door with Crocea Mors on his belt. Looking around to find no one around, he shrugged his shoulders and walked further onto the roof. He stared at the tower, the office of the Headmaster of Beacon.

"A beauty, isn't it?" He flinched, the Hooded Vigilante standing right next to him, "The tower, I mean."

"What the?-!" The blonde cried stepping back in shock.

"Yo, Jaune!" The hooded figure greeted.

"…So it is you…" He groaned, "What's the deal, Raine? Dressing up like a hero?"

He laughed as he pulled down the hood, revealing indeed it is Raine under it, "Well, it is for my part-time job, if I can call it that." He stated, "The heroics are just side stuff that I did along the way."

"Job?"

"I'll explain. But first, your shield." Raine stated with his hand out. Jaune looked down at his weapon, and pulled out his sheathed sword. His friend took the weapon, rubbing his fingers on it, "The fragment is completely implemented into it… But…" He pulls out his chokuto and placed the blade close to the scabbard. His sword glows bright as the same glowing orb floats out of the scabbard and float aimlessly in front of them.

"What is that…?" Jaune asked.

"A fragment of a holy relic." Raine stated, before stopping, "Oh well. Since you're its owner now, might as well." He took out a small box from his coat and place the orb into it.

"Might as well…?" The blonde asked.

"Jaune, do you know about the Creed of Light?"

"You mean that legendary Hunter group, right?" Jaune stated, "An ancient organization that took on countless of Grimm and rumoured to have founded the four kingdoms, the first Hunters of Remnant and the protectors of the Kingdoms, right? There have been rumours that they are still around today."

"Well, they aren't rumours." Raine tells him, "They are true. The Creed of Light exists now in modern times. And I'm a member."

"Wait, what?-!" Jaune cried before his friend covered his mouth.

"Quiet! You want Cardin to spread rumours again?-!" He cried, getting a nod from the blonde, "Now then, let me explain. The Creed of Light is exactly what it is, an organisation that protect the Four Kingdoms from the Grimm. It has been disbanded since the implementation of the Hunter jobs but has been resurrected couple of centuries ago."

"Why?" The blonde knight asked, "I mean, we now have the Hunters and Huntress to protect everyone right?"

"Yes, against the Grimm. But we are to tackle a greater threat." Raine explained, "One that wasn't shown to the public. A secret war, if you will."

"Against what?"

"Remember those Beowolves this afternoon?" He asked, "Notice anything different about them?"

"Y-Yeah, they are tougher and much stronger than normal." Jaune stated.

"They are artificial Beowolves, made by human hands." Raine explained, "Neo Beowolves, as we put it. They are a breed of Grimm that have been genetically altered to be tougher and controllable by man. They are tougher and much, much stronger that the normal Grimm. They can't be damaged by any normal means. Only with a specific type of weapon."

"What's that?"

"Lunae, fragments of the Moon." He stated, "They are the only weapons that can kill the Neo Grimm. But the problem is that they only can be used by someone who is chosen by one."

"So, I'm…" Raine nodded at Jaune's question. "So am I." The swordsman tells the knight, "The sword I'm using, Masamune, is forged with a Lunae fragment in the blade. Each fragment embodies a unique power to its user depending on the user's initial will when it chose him or her."

"So, the barrier…"

"Is your power being manifested, yes." Raine stated, "You wishes to protect, and so it protects. But in its raw state, it drains its owner. Overusing it can kill you. I'm going to send it back to the creed for forging, right after I created the blueprint for you new weapon."

"Wait, so all those times your doodle in class is…"

"The blueprints for each new Lunae, yes." He nodded, "They emailed me the powers that manifested, I design the weapon that best suit that power. Masamune too is designed by yours truly."

"Do… anyone else knows this…?" Jaune asked.

"Pyrrha, other than her, no one else."

"Pyrrha?-!" He cried, "You never got time to tell her that you're part of the Hunter Clan and yet you told her about the secret organisation?"

"She caught me in my uniform! I didn't have a choice!" Raine cried.

"Wait, if I'm a user of this Lunae… Do I get a cool uniform like yours?"

"Only after you pay a visit to the main headquarters, yes." Raine nodded.

"Awesome!" Jaune cheered, "Maybe I'll get it in white…" He then stopped, "Wait, you said the Neo Grimm are artificially made. Then, who made them?"

"Our enemy." He stated, "The Order of Dark. They created the Neo Grimm in attempt to take over all of Remnant and bring it into an age of darkness, led by one man."

"Who's that?"

"…He goes by the name Avenger." Raine stated, "I've never met him, but I was told he is a dangerous man. That's all."

"Not much data on him, huh…?" Jaune stated.

"Well, there isn't much to go with in the first place." He stated, "Anyway, I'm not just here to tell you about the creed. I'm here to start our training, for real this time." He tosses Crocea Mors back to the blonde, he catching it clumsily, "And your first lesson…" He kicked Jaune hard, knocking him down on the floor.

"Ow! Hey!"

"Is how to defend properly." He stated, discarding his coat to one side, revealing the sleeveless turtleneck jacket, "Let's try that again."

Jaune groaned a little as he got up, before smiling little as he drew his sword and expand out his shield. Raine spun around and kicks hard, the blonde holding up the shield and blocked the attack, stuttering back a little.

"Better, but you can do much more than that." Raine smirked.

The blonde nodded as he holds up his shield.

…

_To be continued…_

* * *

**Finally, finished! Man, I have trouble in  
how to write this chapter. I originally  
wanted it to carry on like in the canon  
but then I thought again and decide to  
give it a much more twist.**

**Also, the Creed of Light is something  
I came up with to give the series much  
more depth with an organisation that  
is not well-known as the White Fang  
but play a very important role in the  
world's safety and order.**

**And yes, it's basically a fusion of  
the Assassin's Creed and Black Order  
but I have more plans for it than just  
being just that.**

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**


	9. Chapter 7

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

**Chapter 7 A Faunus' troubles**

* * *

It has been a week since the Forever Fall incident. Goodwitch has informed the headmaster about this and he has contacted the councils of this event. Raine is still carrying on his small job as the Hooded Vigilante while designing the new weapon to be made for Jaune, the blonde now getting better with his own weapon with the lessons with the swordsman and Pyrrha offered to help him as they uses a similar weapon combo.

Raine's identity as the Hooded Vigilante and a member of the Hunter Clan is still a kept secret from the school community and there has been no signs of anyone ever getting close to finding that out. He was worried that Cardin might spread the word around but he seems to have no signs of even knowing about it, so he just dropped it.

Right now, they are all in the cafeteria during the lunch period just finishing the Dust Studies lesson for the day.

Team RAEM and JNPR sitting one side of the table and RWBY and LIGT in the other, all either eating their own food or talking with their friends and teammates. Raine, on the other hand, is busy scribbling on a large canvas paper with a pencil not paying any attention to any of their conversation.

"Okay, honest question here." Yang stated, "What do you think about Professor Fenier?"

"That puppy Faunus?" Leaf asked, "She's okay, I guess."

"She's a good teacher." Moon stated, "Although, she could get over the… shyness…"

"And clumsy nature." Ember stated.

"That's one the major appeal of her, right?" Gamma asked, the males all looked at him with wide eyes, "What? I thought such females are quite appealing to most males."

"So, you're into the small category?" Ember asked, "I mean, like Weiss category?"

"Hey!" She cried out annoyed, "I'm not that small!"

"She's right." Akai stated, "Fenier's are much bigger."

"Are you calling me flat?!" She cried, "Don't get so smug because yours are bigger!"

"Anything to add, Raine?" Pyrrha asked. The swordsman ignoring her as he carries on with his sketching. The table turn silent as the scribbling on the paper is the only sound that can be heard, "Raine…?"

"…"

"…"

"Surprisingly… he's not talking…" Ember muttered.

"I'm expecting him to crack a sexual joke about the sheer size of Akai's boobs or the lack of Weiss's." Leaf stated.

"What does that supposed to mean?-!" Weiss shouted angrily.

"…" Yang then thought of an idea, "Hey! Akai's top just came loose!"

"REALLY?-!" Raine immediately shot up looking at his partner who swiftly proceed to shoot him, the bullet was dodged by him as it zooms passed the cafeteria and shooting through Russel's hair just avoided by Lloyd making a move straight out of Matrix before hitting the wall.

"Deviant." Akai muttered before holstering the pistol into her sleeves.

"Yeah, what was I thinking…?" Raine muttered as he sat back down and carries on with his sketch.

"Whatcha doing?" Ruby asked leaning over his shoulder.

"Project, Ruby." Raine tells her, "And please get off me. You're still too young to use sex appeal on man, or woman. Although, you do have quite a respective rack."

"Raine!" Moon cried, "Don't talk like that to her!"

"She has Yang as a sister!" Raine cried, "That's plenty enough to justify talking to her like this!"

"What does that mean, huh?" Yang asked rather annoyed.

"That you're an outgoing gal that know a lot about the red light district with an extremely flirty personality, why?" Raine said bluntly, "Do you even see how you dressed?"

"It just shows how much I know about my body~!" Yang said posing sexily for him.

"Yup, an E-cup, right?" Raine asked.

"Come on, BB." She smirked as she took his hand and placed it on her right breast, "Give it squeeze, pretty firm and nicely shaped~"

"Y-Yang!" Ruby cried blushing.

"S-Stop this right now!" Moon cried, "Please keep this to the dorms or in the broom closet!"

"Why a broom closet?-!" Ember cried.

"Well, definitely nice to the touch~ Goldilocks have world class racks alright~" Raine chuckled squeezing it slightly, before Akai smashes his head down onto the table hard with a punch to the back of his skull.

"I believe the topic went out the window…" Leaf muttered.

"Actually, I've been wondering." Ivy spoke up within the major commotion, "Do Raine and Yang know each other? I mean, you both act so close to each other to almost like siblings."

"Oh yeah, we never did told you guys, right?" Raine muttered as he rubbed his sore forehead, "Yang and I are actually cousins."

"Really?" Ember asked, looking at his leader, then the blonde, then back to Raine, "You both don't even looked alike…"

"My mother is her father's younger sister." Raine stated, "I used to live next-doors to her and Ruby until ten years ago."

"Wait, then why didn't Ruby recognise you during enrolment day?" Jaune asked.

"Ruby was a toddler when Raine and his family moved." Yang explained, "And then… THAT happened…"

"That?" Blake asked, Jaune then realized what she meant.

"It's nothing." Raine assured her, "It's the past now, and I'm way over it."

"I see…"

"Wow, that's a surprise." Pyrrha said looking at him intensively, "Anything else you wish to tell us?"

"Well, besides having an older brother studying here and my twin sister is a blacksmith, nothing much." Raine stated as he carries on sketching on his paper.

Jaune leaned over to Raine, "Raine, is this…?" He whispers to him.

"Yeah, still thinking how to maximise your force shield ability and not drain your aura." He whispers back, "And still having trouble designing the sword to go with it. Something that could make use of the same ability as well."

"Oh, make it as fancy as possible!"

"That's a bad idea, especially for something you wish to bring to combat." Raine stated.

"I have to agree with Raine for that one." Pyrrha said slouching over on Raine's other side, "You need something simple yet elegant. Maybe a transforming weapon like mine?"

"No, we need it to be as simple as possible." He stated, "The Lunae won't respond if its vessel is too complex."

"Oh! Make the shield and sword a singular weapon that can become a sword and shield when separated." Jaune suggested.

"That… Could work…" Raine muttered as he carries on sketching, "Speaking of complex weaponry, is Milo still working properly?"

"The transformations between the three forms are smooth so far." Pyrrha stated, "But the rifle form's trigger seems to jam a few times during practice."

"I'll take a look at it when I have time." He tells her, "At the meantime…" He took out his scroll and starts tapping on it for a while before the red head's scroll ringed, "I've send the blueprints to your scroll. You can use it to check it's functionality."

"Raine, only you can understand the blueprints!" Pyrrha cried, "I'm not a mechanic!"

"Then tighten or loosen the screw for the trigger." He tells her, "If that don't work, leave it outside my dorm. I'll handle it."

"You talk like you created it." Blake stated.

"Since when you're a weaponry expert?" Weiss asked, "Oh wait, let me guess, it is one of the many skills that you just made up on the spot."

"Not exactly." Raine stated, "I didn't have my hand in making it per say, but Pyrrha's sword is designed by yours truly."

"Yeah right." The heiress scoffed, "You're just making stuff up to act cocky."

"Oh really?" He smirked, "Myrtenaster, Multi Action Dust Rapier. Equipped with a five slot Dust revolver cylinder made for SDC's Dust cartridges that expel the dust on the thin blade when the trigger is pulled. Top break revolver cylinder loading system, AND, is considered the prototype of the Dust Burst weaponry system. Cost roughly… 150 000 Lien to make excluding the metalworking."

"Wha- How do you know so much?-!" Weiss cried.

"Oh! And it is designed by the underworld weapon designer goes by the anagram RAE."

"RAE?-!" Ruby squealed with her eyes shining in interest, "Oh my gawd, oh my gawd~! My partner's weapon is made by the legendary RAE~! That's SOOOO AWESOME!-!"

"What's so famous about RAE?" Gamma asked.

"He, or she, is a famous freelance weapon designer all over Remnant and on the net." Leaf explained, "His work are often regarded as an art, and a blueprint of one of his many designs are worth almost a million Lien alone."

"What's so good about his design?" Ember asked.

"They are practical, and cool-looking at the same time!" Ruby shouted, "Each weapon he designed is custom made to the client's fighting style, no one else, even if someone else uses the same fighting style! He only tells the client and the client alone on how to wield the weapon he design, no one else! Not only that, his designs are impossible to replicate just from the weapon alone!"

"And Weiss manages to get one." Ivy stated, "Kind of fishy."

"Yeah! How do you even find that guy?-!" Torque cried.

"I'm quite curious, myself." Blake stated.

"My dad manages to track him down and paid him an enormous sum just to forge that weapon for me." She stated.

"Five hundred, twenty-nine thousand, nine hundred and seventy five point ninety dollars." Raine stated, "That including the shipping cost and the GST percentage."

"How do you know so much?-!" Weiss cried, "Have you been… stalking me…?"

"Stalk the ironing board? No thank you." He said, "It just I happened to know the very person that designed that rapier."

"You know who RAE is?-!" Ruby cried in shock and excitement, "Who is it?-! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!"

"Sorry, sworn to secrecy by him." Raine stated, Pyrrha giggled at that.

"Come on! Maybe a little hint? Please~!"

"Come on Ruby." Yang tells her sister as she pulls her back onto her seat, "Stop bothering BB. You can wring it out of him when it's nightfall. I'll teach you the proper technique for it!"

"Goldilocks, don't." Raine tells the blonde, "Or I'll tell uncle Qrow."

"She has to learn sooner or later."

"I'm surprised you're against it." Akai stated, "I thought you would love for her to know."

"I may be an open pervert, but even I have moral standards." He tells his partner, "I'm too young to be jailed for accidental sex with a minor, no matter how mature her body looks."

"And you're open to sexual harassment?" She asked.

"Just to girls I know." Raine chuckled, "I have plenty of material here. And I have plenty to tease about! For example, do you know Pyrrha was a C-cup in our third year in Sanctum?"

"Really?-!" Ivy cried.

"Yeah, and it kept on growing!" He laughed, dodging a punch from the red head, "It doesn't look that big because of the muscles she build up."

"How would you know?" Weiss asked sceptical, before looking at him dangerously, "Did you… touch them?"

"God no!" Raine cried, "I'm no sexual deviant!"

"You tried to peep on Akai sleeping." Ember stated deadpanned.

"I only look at sexy woman, I never tried to violate one." He stated, "Besides, aren't you the one with that Faunus porno mag in your hammock."

"No! They were cosplayers!"

"So you ADMIT you have porno mag."

"Raine, please stop before this goes out of hand…" Pyrrha sighed, before noticing Jaune bending forward slightly, "You okay, Jaune?"

"Yeah! No problem!" He stated strained.

"Looks like someone's 'little brother' has woken up~!" Raine chuckled, "What, just fantasied about Pyrrha naked?"

"Raine!" The red head shouted.

"This conversation has definitely gone way too far…" Leaf sighed. Ivy nodded in agreement.

* * *

Another week has passed, and their days just flew passed like nothing. Nothing major happened, just the same regular routine of school. Raine is still working on the design for Jaune's new weapon that he often worked on during Grimm Studies lessons when Professor Port starts to monologue about his younger days.

It is the weekend today, so Raine decides to take a stroll in the city with his team following him.

Vale isn't bustling now since it is close to the afternoon and there has been a series of shop robberies all around, mostly Dust shops so there have been sights of police wandering around.

"Who steals Dust and not the money?" Moon wonders.

"Someone who needs a lot of them?" Raine asked.

"Who needs that much Dust?" Akai asked.

Ember looked around, noticing the decorations hanging all over the place, "Come to think of it, it is almost the Vytal Festival, right?" He stated.

"Yup, one of the greatest festivals of the Four Kingdoms!" Moon said happily, "I've always wanted to go, but my dad is so overprotective of me that he wouldn't let me leave Atlas at all, even with a bodyguard."

"You're the heiress of one of the major weapons manufacturer of Remnant." Akai reminded, "That makes you a major target. I have receive many requests to kill you and their rewards are rather promising."

"I'll say." Raine stated.

"Although, seeing the decorations hung up makes you think that the Dust shop robberies are just an act to get people pumped up." Ember stated.

"I still don't understand, who or what needs so much Dust?" Moon muttered.

"Considering the number of shops that was robbed, somewhere enough to supply an entire private army." Akai stated, "And we do know one group that would benefit from that."

"The White Fang, isn't it?" Raine asked, his partner nodding, "Again, the White Fang sure has gone downhill. What happened to the peaceful revolutionaries they originally represents?"

"Yeah, what indeed…" Ember muttered.

It was Akai was knocked over by a blonde haired teen, a Faunus with a monkey tail wearing a white shirt left opened showing his bare chest and blue jeans with black and yellow sneakers. "Ow!" She cried.

"Oh, sorry!" The teen cried out before noticing her, "Akai?"

"Huh?" She looked over at the blonde Faunus, "Sun?"

"Get back here, you!" From afar, they can hear shouts from around the corner. "Oops! Gotta run!" He cried as he starts running, "Nice to see you, Akai! Smell you later!"

As soon as the blonde Faunus left, RWBY came running in with Weiss in the lead, "Did you guys see a blonde monkey run passed here?" She asked, getting an annoyed look from Ember and Blake.

"A blonde what?" Raine asked, "Sorry, but no monkey has blonde fur."

"That's not- Damn it, we lost him!" She groaned.

"What did you call me?" An orange haired girl with green eyes popped out from nowhere, startling everyone. "Whoa, where did she come from?-!" He cried.

"Oh, I'm really sorry! I definitely didn't think you would heard me!" Yang cried out.

"A friend of yours?" Ember asked.

"We just bump to each other on the street!" Weiss cried.

"No, not you." The girl stated as she walked up to Ruby, "You!"

"M-Me? I-I don't know." She muttered, "I, what I, um, uh…"

"You called me, friend!" She stated, "Am I really your friend?"

"Um…" She looked over to her teammates, they all shook their heads, "Y-Yeah, s-sure! Why not?" They all comically falls over at that.

"Sen-sational!" The girl cried, "We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk cute boys! Like those two over there!"

"Huh?" Ember and Raine looked at each other comically.

"Was this what it was like when you met me…?" Ruby asked Weiss.

"No… she seems FAR more coordinated." She stated.

"So… what are you doing in Vale?" Yang asked.

"I'm here to fight in the Tournament." She stated.

"Wait, YOU are fighting in the Tournament?" Weiss asked.

The girl gave a salute, "I'm combat ready!"

"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part." She stated.

"Says the girl in a dress." Ember stated.

"It's a combat skirt!" Weiss stated, Ruby sliding next to her, "Yeah!" And they did a low-five.

"Well then, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Moon greeted walking up to the girl, "I'm Moon!"

"Akai."

"Ember."

"I'm Raine. Hunter Extreme!"

"I'm Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!" She greeted, "And you too, Hunter Extreme!"

"No, my name is Raine." He tells her, "Hunter Extreme is just a nickname."

"Wait a minute! If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion?" Weiss asked grabbing Penny by the shoulders.

"The who?"

"The filthy Faunus from the boat!"

"Shut up, Weiss!" Ember shouted, "And stop calling him that! Faunus are people too!"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Weiss stated releasing the orange haired girl, "Would you like me stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?"

"Stop it!" Blake cried.

"Stop what?-! He clearly broken the law." Weiss stated, "Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!"

"Sun would never do that!" Akai shouted, getting a surprise look from them. "Look, he maybe a troublemaker, but he has a good heart."

"So you know that degenerate?" Weiss asked.

"There you go again!" Ember shouted angrily, "If you say another racist comment, I'll-"

"Ember calm down!" Raine cried.

"How can I be calm?-!" The fox Faunus shouted angrily, "I've heard many racist comments from people, but from someone of a respective family is making such a comment is something I can't stand at all!"

"I'm just telling you calm down, not to get emotional!" His leader shouted.

"No, I WILL get emotional!" He shouted, "I've been holding back against her for the past weeks, but I'm sick and tired of that ignorant little brat sprouting racist comments just because she can!"

"What in the world makes you say that?-!" Weiss cried.

"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!" Blake cried.

"Yeah… we should go now…" Raine stated as he starts to push Ember away before he could start mauling at the heiress.

* * *

Night has fallen, Raine opening the door to RWBY's dorm to hear the ever so arguing people inside, Yang and Ruby standing at one side watching the argument going back and forth with no signs of stopping, "Still arguing?"

"Yeah." Yang nodded.

He handed her a book, "Tell Blake I've returned her book."

"Noted."

The arguing ended up being some speech by Weiss, saying how her father treated her badly because of the constant attacks by the White Fang on their company, which Raine rolled his eyes over, 'That's kind of your fault considering your use of Faunus slave labour…'

"You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!" Weiss cried.

"Well maybe WE are just tired of being pushed around!"

"…"

"…"

"Huh?" Raine blinked in surprise, "What did you…?"

"I…I…" Blake muttered before zooming out of the room despite the cries from her teammates.

"Blake, wait!" Raine crying out zooming after her in a blue blur. He manages to stop her in the middle of the hallway by grabbing on her wrist, "Blake! Hold on! What do you-?" He then saw the look in her eyes: fear. He let go as he watch her run off.

Walking back into the room, the rest of his team looked at him worried, "You guys heard?" He asked, they all nodded.

"So… that's why she looked so familiar…" Ember muttered.

"Ember?" Moon asked worriedly.

"It's nothing." He tells her, looking out at the window at the night sky.

"So, Blake is part of the White Fang, huh?" Akai muttered, "That would explain why I couldn't get information on her when I check the school's database."

"You mean, hacked in, right?" Raine stated.

"But, but… she doesn't looked like one of the White Fang…" Moon muttered.

"Looks can be deceiving." Ember tells her, "I've seen White Fang supporters playing the victim only to stab the kind people in the back when their guard is down. If she is indeed one of them, all those things she did is all an act."

"No, she's not." Raine stated firmly, "Her eyes isn't one like that. She is scared."

"Of getting found out." Ember stated firmly.

"No, at me!" Raine cried, "She's terrified of me, of humans! I've seen many White Fang supporters and she doesn't have that look in her!"

"A mask, all of it."

"What's you deal, anyway?-!" He shouted at the Fox Faunus, "Even IF she is part of the White Fang, I doubt she is now! She's not a murderer! A terrorist!"

"And you? Why are you defending her so much?" He asked his leader angrily, "She is just another Faunus, anyway. It's not like you have any personal attachment to her."

"No, I don't." Raine stated, "But I won't stand by and see someone getting accused of something she hasn't done, or being part of in the past!"

"Playing the hero?" Ember muttered annoyed, "Grow up, Raine! You're being naïve! The world doesn't have room for hero-wannabe like you!"

"I'm not trying to be a hero! I'm just protecting someone that needs my help!" Raine cried, "Won't you? She is a Faunus, just like you! You of all people should have such a connection with her! So what if she used to be part of the White Fang, she's still one of our friends!"

Ember growled, "Someone who used to be part of that organization is not my friend."

Raine roared out as he punches the Fox Faunus in the face, knocking him down onto the ground hard, "Ember!" Moon cried as she ran to him, just as her leader headed for the door. "Wait, where're you going?-!"

"To find Blake!" Raine shouted angrily, "If you won't try and help her, then I will!" He left the room, slamming the door after him. The rest of his team all looked at the door in shock, Ember rubbed the cheek he was punched on before getting up into his hammock. The two girls looked at him, before Moon walked over to the door, "I-I'll go get him back!" She cried as she ran out of the room.

"Moon, wait!" Akai cried, before sighing when she out of sight. She looked over at the hammock angrily, "You happy now, Ember? Now BOTH our partners are gone!"

"Hmph."

"Grr…" She growled before leaping into her hammock and pulling the curtains. Ember turned on his side in his hammock, pulling out a red pendant from inside his shirt. It is a red gemstone with gold casing surrounding its edges connected around his neck by a golden chain. He looked at it, before clenching it close to his chest in front of his heart.

* * *

Moon panted as she ran through the streets of Vale, looking for her leader. They were dark, despite having streetlamps which makes it even more ominous. "Where are you…Raine…?" She muttered worriedly. She then noticed the night streets, the eerily quiet streets. "Okay… this is creepy…?"

A shadow zooms behind her.

"Huh?-! W-Who's there?-!" She cried, unfolding out her bow/gauntlet, "I-I'm warning you! I-I'm armed!"

It zooms by another angle beside her, "KYA!" She fires an arrow out in fright, hitting and denting a lamppost, "O-Oh…"

The shadow flashes behind her, placing its hand on her shoulder. She turned around, and the only thing can be heard is her scream.

…

_To be continued…_

* * *

**There, end it on a cliffhanger, huh…? Well  
this chapter has been fun and somewhat  
awkward to write but I'm getting to the  
nice parts of my fanfiction now!**

**I've got a review on how I should show  
team BLAZ more often as he or she has  
no idea of their personalities so… maybe  
an omake sometime. I'll see, it depends  
on what I can come up with.**

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**


	10. Chapter 8

**Edit: Accidentally used Blanc's name in another OC, so I changed Blanc to Bliz.**

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

**Chapter 8 The White Fang**

* * *

Ember groaned as he walked through the near empty streets of Vale. Since that same mishap on that dented lamppost along of the more abandoned streets, the police has been out and about more than usual and the public seems to be trying not to go out more often despite being the weekend.

He is currently looking for both his leader and partner, both gone missing since the whole weekend and Akai, being the reasonable second-in-command that she is, ordered him to go out and look for them.

"Stupid girl, you're an ex-assassin, you have contacts, search them yourself…" He grumbled angrily.

His thoughts goes back to his argument, the words that Raine shouted at him. He have heard naïve thoughts, but this is the first time he heard someone spoke them with such vigor, such resolve. It almost makes it feels it could be possible. He have long thrown such thoughts out of his mind the moment the White Fang gone crazy.

His right hand hover over his black sword's handle, his thoughts going back to his old days. The old days of being a terrorist.

He killed, and killed, and killed, every human he was ordered to by his higher-ups. He didn't care if that human is a racist fucker or an innocent bystander, as long he is assigned to kill him, he will do it.

He can recall the smell of blood and gore after every mission, to the point that he can even see them in his hands when they are not there.

He always believed that the humans are the one that is at the wrong, that this is just their retribution coming. But then, he saw the consequences of his own actions. The Faunus not supporting the White Fang cause are being mistreated even worst then normally, to the point of them being just meat bags for the racist humans to vent their frustration.

He have a solid philosophy of killing one to save a hundred. To save people, sacrifices have to be made. It is something he stood by while he is in the White Fang and still stood now, only his target now is the entire White Fang organization.

Raine is the very embodiment of the things that he used to believe, the naïve hopeful kid he has before he lost his parents on the streets due to some racist bastards. He definitely have the skills to achieve it, but not everything in the world is so forgiving. Raine needs to know the cruel truth, that there is no JUSTICE in this world, only power.

Victors paint the rules, and losers pay the price.

Although, his partner seems much worse than him. Moon is too innocent, too unwary of the cruelty of the outside world. He have heard that she is not just related to the BAP, but to the SDC as well with her father being Weiss' uncle. Although unlike Weiss, her father showered her with love and understanding, making it obvious that they are polar opposites with each other.

She's a pacifist at the worst job possible. Being a Huntress is being more than just killing Grimm, they are sometimes being deployed to hunt down big criminals or take down big organizations. They are even sent in to help explore newer parts of the land. Being a complete pacifist can get herself hurt, or killed.

He sometimes wonders why she chose this job in the first place.

'Kind of think of it, I don't know much about Moon at all…' He thought, 'Or Raine and Akai either… then again, I did keep my distance from them and everyone for that matter… kind to think of it, Blake did seem rather aloof from her own team as well…'

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a person bump into him and falling back. He looked down, to see Weiss on the floor grunting in pain with her legs wide apart and showing off her unmentionables, "You might want to cross your legs." He tells her as he looked to his side just as the heiress notices her mishap and closed her legs.

"Perverted dog."

"I'm a FOX!-!" He shouted angrily.

"Same thing."

"No, it's not!" He shouted.

"So, foxy!" Yang chuckled, "Seen Blake around?"

"No, why?" He asked angrily, already annoyed that he was mistaken as another type of canine again, "Didn't she head to the police in guilt?"

"T-That's a really bad joke!" Ruby cried.

"I wasn't joking."

"Geez, you need to lighten up." Yang stated.

"Not if the person in question is a terrorist in disguise." Ember stated angrily, getting rather startled looks from the three girls, "The walls between rooms aren't exactly soundproof."

"So, everyone else heard it…?" Ruby asked nervously, he nodded, "Oh…~ Why…?"

"Why are you guys looking for her?" Ember asked, "She already admitted to lying to you about herself, yet you wish to find her."

"Blake is our teammate, and my partner." Yang stated firmly, "Whether she is part of the White Fang or not is not important right now."

"…I thought trust was important between partners." He stated, "She already prove that she isn't that trustworthy."

"S-She probably has a reason for not telling us…" Ruby stated nervously.

Ember groaned in annoyance, "Ruby, grow up. She stated she is part of the White Fang-"

"That's not proven yet!" She cried.

"She said so herself!" He shouted at her, scaring the younger girl as he growled slightly with his sharp teeth shown, "You need to know how to see people for who they really are, and not how YOU see them as they are. Grow up, kid. The world is not a sunshine and rainbows." He walked off with a huff, Ruby dropping on her butt with her eyes wide open in fear.

"Geez, broody much?" Yang muttered as Weiss helped her partner up to her feet, "And I thought Akai was the broody one among them."

"Are you okay, Ruby?" The heiress asked worriedly.

"Y-Yeah…" She muttered.

* * *

In a balcony café in the middle of Vale, Sun Wukong and Blake Belladonna sat in their seat with a cup of tea in their hands. The monkey Faunus looked at the black-bow Faunus, the latter sipping on her tea, "So… you want to know more about me?" She asked sceptical.

"Finally, she speaks!" Sun groaned, "Nearly two days and you have me nothing but small talk and weird looks!" She gave him a glare, "Yeah, like that!"

She rolled her eyes, before sighing a little, "Sun… are you familiar with the White Fang?"

"Of course!" He stated, "I don't think there is a Faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever we want. Bunch of freaks, if you ask me!"

Blake sips a bit of her tea before putting the cup down just as Sun sips his cup, "…I was once a member of the White Fang."

Sun did a spit-take before choking on his drink coughing a little, wiping his mouth as he hold up his hand while processing the information that he was bombed with, "Wait a minute, YOU were a member of the White Fang?-!"

"That's right. I was a member for most of my life, actually." She tells him, "You could say that I was born into it…"

"Is that so?" Blake froze when she heard a voice, looking up to see Raine looking down from the rooftop, the teen waved at her cheerfully.

"Raine?-!" Raine leaped down and landed on the seat into a seating position in one move, "What are you-?-!"

"Looking for you, idiot." He stated with a smirk looking at the monkey Faunus, "But I guess my worries are for nothing. Hooking up so quickly? You work fast, Blake."

"What?-! No!" She cried blushing.

"Raine Aoi Sapphire, nice to meet you." Raine states reaching out his hand.

"Sun Wukong." The monkey Faunus greeted as he shook the swordsman's hand.

Raine then turn to Blake with a serious look, "So, you were saying?" He stated, "Something about you being part of the White Fang?"

'He changes attitude like flipping a coin…' Sun thought sweat-dropped, 'Is he bipolar or something?'

"…It was years ago." She stated, "Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between Humans and Faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as the voice of our people. And I was there. I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. I actually thought we were making a difference. But I was just a youthful optimist."

"Till their leaders change." Raine stated.

"Yes. Five years ago, our leader stepped down and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly, our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refuse to serve us, hijacked cargo trains from companies that used Faunus Labour. And the worst part was, it was working. We were treated like equals. But not out of respect… out of fear…"

"…" Sun remained stunned while the other male looked on impassive.

"So, I left." She stated, "I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So, here I am. A criminal hiding in plain view, all with a help of a little, black bow." She demonstrated wiggling her cat ears under the bow.

"…And you never told your team." Raine stated, she looked away in shame, "Blake, you know that trust is important in a team of Hunters, and hiding the truth is a breach of trust."

"I…"

Raine sighed, "I'm not here to lecture you. I'm the last person to preach about something like this. I'm just saying that you should at least tell them that you're a Faunus at least."

"…"

"Raine, was it?" Sun spoke, "You have no idea how bad it is for a Faunus out in public."

"I do." He stated, "Maybe not personally, but I get the general idea. All I'm saying that you shouldn't be scared to show that you are one. I've talk with Yang a lot and she always states how badass you are and how glad that you're her partner."

"She… really thinks so?" Blake asked.

Raine nodded, getting a small smile from the cat Faunus.

* * *

In another area, Moon sat nervously on a black sofa in the middle of a hotel room. 'What am I doing here again…?' She thought in panic.

"Here." A hand placed down a cup in front of her on the coffee table.

"U-Um… thank you…" She muttered as she took the cup and drank its content as the owner of the hand sat down on the bed opposite the sofa with her leg crossed over the other.

It is a young woman with long silky strawberry blonde hair tied in in a side ponytail on her left and sharp green and blue eyes, she wore a black hoodie altered to reach just below her ribcage over a white sports bra altered to show her cleavage with dark grey jeans with its legs teared to an inch down her hips and black high-cut boots that reaches just below her knee.

"You know, you were lucky that I found you that night." She tells her, "There has been robberies seen all around Vale lately. It is dangerous for a young girl be alone out there."

Moon looked down at the cup, the chocolate drink reflected her face, "I know… but I was chasing my leader."

"Leader?" She asked, leaning forward with her chin on her hand, "Are you part of a Hunter Team?"

"Y-Yeah!" She stated, "Team RAEM of Beacon!"

"So you're a student of Beacon." The woman said, "Oh, where are my manners…? I'm Saffron Crocus, I'm a bounty hunter."

"A bounty hunter…?" Moon wonders.

"Yup! Took down several criminals all over Remnant!" She stated cheerfully, "Right now I'm tracking down Roman Torchwick. That asshole escaped from my grasps too many times!"

"I-I… see…" Moon muttered before quietly sipping her hot chocolate.

"Just you wait, Torchwick!" She shouted fists punching into the air startling the younger girl, "I'll get your ass today! I'm sure of it! Then I'll make sure you pay for humiliating me that night!"

"A-Ah…" Moon stuttered with anime tears pouring down her eyes in fear. 'This woman is dangerous in many ways!-!'

"Calm down, Saffron." A voice spoke as the door to the hotel room opened, a young man stepped in with a calm yet stoic expression, "Who are you talking to anyway?"

He has messy black hair with a white shading around his left bangs and brown eyes, he wore a black long sleeved button shirt sleeves rolled over to just below his elbows with black pants and dress shoes, two red belts around his waist with one sagging to his right. He also have black fingerless biker gloves that has metal plate on the back of the hand with a white holster with a silver gun handle on his right hip.

"Ah, Jaeger." Saffron greeted her partner, "Finished info gathering?"

"More or less." He tells her, "With the several Dust shop robberies all over Vale over the past weeks, it was really hard to pinpoint his exact location." He then notices Moon seating and looking at him with curious eyes, before realizing that she is staring and looked back down fidgeting around with a slight blush.

"…Did you kidnap another minor again?"

"What?-! No!" Saffron said offended, "I'm not that desperate!"

"Sorry for any crazy shenanigans my partner has done." He tells her, "And for kidnapping you."

"Hey! I did not kidnap her!" Saffron cried.

"I-It's fine!" Moon said blushing, "I-I kind of want to apologize to her for bothering her, um, Mr…?"

"It's Jaeger, Jaeger Zwel." He introduced himself, "If you must know, I'm this idiot's partner." The woman shouted out angrily, "Anyway, what's your name?"

"M-Moon…"

"Moon, huh?" Jaeger muttered to himself, before turning to Saffron, "Anyway, Saffron, I manage to predict where the next big Torchwick heist will be at."

"Really? Where?-!" Saffron cried.

"At the docks." He tells her, "I managed to found out about a large Schnee freight-load of Dust being unloaded tonight. Perfect target for someone of his calibre."

"Alright!" Saffron leaped off the bed with a confident look, "Time for some payback, Roman!"

"Although, it has been odd." Jaeger stated.

"Hm? What is?"

"There has been too many robberies all over Vale." He explained, "And when I checked the papers and with the police officers, some of them were happening at the same time. And not just that, Roman usually strolled in and demands Dust from the shops that are opened close to midnight with little to no collateral damage."

"And yet, most of the robberies are broken in, usually far passed closing time." Saffron said, "You're right, this isn't his M.O. Did we have the wrong person?"

"Can't say for sure. But I guessed that the council will definitely pay huge buck for catching whoever is responsible." He stated.

"Big pay check all around!" She cheered, "It's a shame it's not Roman though…"

"U-Um…"

They stopped talking and looked at their guest, Moon staring at them confusingly, "W-Who is this, Roman Torchwick person?"

"…" They looked at each other, before turning to her, "You have never heard of him?" Jaeger asked.

"He is one of the biggest criminals of Remnant!" Saffron cried, "He was caught a few times but he always escaped a day after! He is the ultimate escape artist thief with a bounty that could reach over 500 000 Lien!"

"…" Moon thought about it for a while, "I think his name came up during my father's briefing…"

"Well, he was most well-known in Vale being his home turf." Jaeger stated.

"Moon, why don't we bring you back to Beacon first?" Saffron asked, "I'm sure your team and friends are worried about you."

"She's a student of Beacon?" He asked his partner.

"But… I'm still looking for my leader…" She muttered.

"…What does your leader looks like?" Saffron asked, "Maybe we can help you look for him."

"R-Really? You would do that?" She asked.

"Saffron, we don't have time for this." Jaeger tells his partner.

"It's just one teenager, Jaeger. How hard can it be?" She tells her partner.

* * *

It is dead of the night at the middle of the docks, Blake lied down on the rooftop flat on her stomach overlooking the large shipments of Schnee Dust containers. "Did I miss anything?" She heard Sun called out as he drops down to her right.

"Not really." She tells him, "They've offloaded the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there."

"Cool." The monkey Faunus stated as he holds out a green apple in front of her, "I stole you some food!"

"Do you always break the law without a second thought?"

"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" She gave him a glare, "Okay, too soon!"

Raine climbed up to the roof next to her with a white plastic bag in his hand, "Chinese Food?" She looked at him questionably, he shook the bag in front of her, "It has sardine~"

She hesitantly take out one of the paper containers with a pair of chopsticks. Raine took out one as well before taking out the last one and placed it in front of Sun, "Their noodles are legendary~" He tells them slurping up the strands of noodles with a gleeful look, "Delish~!"

Raine then notices the apples in Sun's arms, "Thanks! I could use a dessert after." He took one of the apples and placed it next to him before carrying on eating his noodles. The monkey looked at him with an eyebrow raised but just start to eat the noodles.

After a while, they finished their food and is still looking over at the docks. Raine now lying down behind Sun with Blake still staring over attentively, "Say, Sun."

"Yeah?"

"You wouldn't happened to know Akai Christ?" He asked the monkey Faunus.

Sun got up looking at him confused, "Wait, Christ?"

"Yeah." Raine stated as he got up as well, "Akai Christ. Red haired, goddess-like figure, a very itchy trigger finger."

"Always a frown on her face?" Sun asked, "And a real low-tolerance to jokers?"

"Yup, that one."

Sun sighed, "Ah, so she's using Christ now, huh?"

"Hm? What do you mean 'using'?" Raine asked him.

"What's your relationship with her?" Sun asked sternly.

"Partners."

"…Partners, huh?" Sun muttered, "Well, you should have known that she was an assassin in Vacuo, right?"

"Yeah, on the first day of school." He stated.

"She is more than that." The monkey Faunus spoke, "She only taken jobs that require her to kill corrupt leaders all over Remnant. And she has many alias as well. The Scarlet Witch, the Red Angel, among countless others. She often use fake names so they aren't able to trace her."

"So, Akai Christ isn't her real name?" Raine asked.

Sun nodded, "Her real name is Akai Scarlet. The name isn't her real family name but is the name that she was happy with."

He pondered for a while, "What's your connection to her?" He asked.

"What's it to you?"

"I'm her partner, and her leader." Raine explained, "I just wish to learn more about my partner that I know nearly nothing about."

Sun looked at him sceptically, before sighing, "…All I can say is that she is like a sister to me. We were part of the same neighbourhood, the same gang of street rats with some other kids of our same age. An old friend of ours is the one that gave her the name Akai Scarlet, Akai translated from an eastern language as the colour red."

"…Akai said she enrolled to Beacon to look for someone." Raine stated, "Do you know who?"

"…That is not for me to say." Sun stated.

"I see…" Raine muttered, "Well thanks for telling me this much at least-"

Just then, the wind starts to pick up and blows all around them. When Raine and Sun when to see what's going on, they saw an airship, a Bullhead's searchlights flashing around the cargo area for a landing spot before it descends down onto the docks. A ramp opened up from it as several soldiers with black hoods and white metallic masks ran out of it.

"Oh no…" Blake muttered.

"Is that them?" Sun asked.

She took notice of the bloody wolf logo on the back of their white vests, "Yes… it's them…"

"Then it's settled." Raine stated, "The White Fang is responsible for all those robberies."

"All right, grab the tow cables!" They hear the soldier shouted as the White Fang infantry ran all over holding onto the cables descended from another Bullhead above.

"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?" Sun asked.

"No…" Blake muttered, "I think deep down, I knew. I just don't want to be right…"

Raine felt a jolt from the back of his head, "No, this isn't all it seems."

"Huh?"

"Hey! What's the hold up?-!" They heard the louder voice, this time from another man, a human among the Faunus terrorists in a white outfit with a black bowler hat holding a cane in his hand smoking a cigar, "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?-!"

"…Roman Torchwick…" Raine muttered.

"You mean that criminal all over the news lately?" Sun asked.

"This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human." Blake stated as she draws out her weapon, Gambol Shroud, from its sharpen sheathe, "Especially not one like that." She stepped off the edge to their shock.

"Hey, what are you doing?-!" Sun cried.

"What happened to being discrete?-!" Raine cried, before sensing another person on the roof with them. He drew out Kotegiri and blocked an orange tinted katana blade. The wielder is a young man in his early twenties, long spiky white hair with reddish tips on the bangs combed back with piercing black eyes wearing a red denim duster coat that split open to three tails near the end, left opened showing a black undershirt with dark grey pants and black combat boots with metallic plate around the toes.

A black sheath on his left hip, a unique sword sheath with silver pistol grip with trigger and trigger guard and a small holster under the handle that houses an assault rifle magazine facing upwards. His sword is a katana with an orange blade with a silver card-shaped tsuba and silver handle with a metal plate on the face of it that has a symbol of a tornado with a lightning shaped gap in the middle of it.

"Well, well… if it isn't Raine…" The man snickers before Raine pushes him back. The man skidded on the ceiling a little as he stood with placing his sword on his shoulder with an arrogant smirk on his face, "Never thought I'll run into you here in Vale. I thought your turf was in Mistral?"

"I could say the same to you, Vento Laranja." Raine said jokingly as he draws out Fudo, "Aren't your turf Vacuo? Or was it Atlas…? I never could figure that out."

"See you got still the nack of sticking your head into other's problems, as usual." Vento chuckled, "Who is this time? A Faunus victim? An ex-White Fang member? Ooh! Hope it's that one!"

"So…" Raine twirled Fudo around in his left hand, "Who's the client this time? Hope it's not Roman Torchwick, cuz… you remember what happened last time, right?"

"Nope, just some big-wig in the White Fang." He tells the teen, "Paid quite a pretty buck for the job. Said he would pay interest if I keep the job permanent."

"Let me guess. Eliminating witnesses."

"Ding-ding, we have a winner~!" Vento cheered, "And your prize is…" He swings his blade down before pointing it at Raine, "…a free cut from Miss Muramasa here."

"Thanks, but I'll pass." The teen said smirking raising his sword at him, "Sun, get down from here and help Blake. I'll handle this guy."

"No need to tell me twice!" Sun said as he leaped off the roof.

Raine kept his smirk as his twirled his blades around before rushing at Vento, the white haired samurai blocking the swings from the teen swordsman as his fast and wild strikes hit on his sword Kusanagi. Vento then twist his body to his left, sheathing his sword while kicking Raine back a bit, sending him flying across the roof before skidding off and landing onto one of the stacked shipping containers using Kotegiri as an anchor to stop his movement.

Vento leaped off the roof and pressed on the trigger, the sword firing out of the sheath in great speed but his hand was on the handle and manages to swing it with the momentum that releases a large orange crescent of energy straight at Raine. He cartwheeled back dodging the blast and then hopped back when Vento stabbed Muramasa into the metal container under his feet, before swinging Fudo at him which was diverted when his opponent pulls out Muramasa and hits the wakizashi away with the hilt.

Raine twists his body back to avoid a swing to his abdomen which he followed with a somersault before dashing forward with a series of sword slashes. Vento blocked and countered all the strikes, before kicking his opponent only to have him mirror the same kick. Vento smirked as he kicks him back with his other feet, and he sheathed his sword. His aura erupted as orange glow engulfed around him and concentrates into his sheathe.

Raine notices this and sheathes Fudo before grabbing Kotegiri with both his hands, his blue blade glowed brightly as he readied to dash forward with sword ready to strike. Vento twisted and pressed the trigger, the sword rocketed out and with a wide arc releases a large sword wave of aura energy at him that splits into a rain of sword strikes. Raine dashes forward, his body glowing in blue aura and he sped up in a series of afterimages that avoided all the sword waves with great agility.

He then appeared in front of him with a smirk as he swung his sword glowing in bright blue light at him, Vento returns the smirk as he swings down Muramasa to meet the attack with the end result was a large explosion of blue aura.

…

In the distance, Ember heard a loud bang before looking over in the directions towards the docks, a blue flash illuminate the sky for an instant.

"There you are…" He groaned as he sprints towards where the smoke is coming out from.

…

Raine cried out in pain as he fell from the column of shipping containers before stabbing Fudo into the side of the crate, skidding down one container and leaped down onto the ground rolling before standing up with his wakizashi out in reverse grip. Behind him a blue blade fell and crashed around the floor, Kotegiri is shown with its blade broken in the halfway point.

Raine stood up looking at his broken sword, "Urg, really Vento?-!" He shouted looking up towards the top, "I really like this sword!"

He was then pushed one side by Blake as a flaming projectile blasts the spot where he was originally was. "Blake?" Raine wonders, before seeing Roman pointing his cane gun at him which he realized why and starts running together with the cat girl while dodging all the projectiles aimed at them as they retreat behind some containers.

"Here, kitty, kitty…" Roman taunted, but was cut off when a banana skin was dropped on top of him. He removed the skin with a grunt before getting a stomp from the fellow monkey Faunus hitting his head onto the floor as Sun leaped off his face and rolled back up to his feet.

"Leave. Them. Alone." He said angrily.

The Bullheads above opened up, revealing more White Fang soldiers who proceed to leap out of the airship and lands in front of Sun with their rifles and swords raised, "You're not the brightest banana in the bunch, are you?" Roman laughed.

"Cocky as ever."

He flinched for a moment before looking around to find a silver M1911 pistol with a black compensator aimed at his face, "Good evening." The voice said before Roman proceed to knock the gun away from his face before hooking the weapon and kicking him which was met by Jaeger's shin.

"Jaeger Zwel." Roman chuckled, "Been a long time."

"Indeed." He smirked, "But for a heist this big and using the White Fang of all people? This isn't your standard M.O."

"What about you? I don't see Saffron around." The criminal smirked.

"Oh, she has other things to do." The gunslinger smirked as knocked the feet back and aimed his gun at his opponent only to get whacked by his cane on the chest, exchanging blows with each other with Jaeger trying to shoot him but for his aim to moved one side completely missing his mark. This carries on for a while just as Sun started wrecking shit against the White Fang soldiers.

With swift punches and kicks, the monkey Faunus sends them flying away from him before ducking under an attack and rolling up while pulling out a collapsible red staff, spinning it around and hitting down all the soldiers that come near him, slamming down onto the ground with a strong flaming shockwave as he twists his body around and getting up carrying on beating away the White Fang.

One of them even flew passed and over the two currently fighting individuals.

Raine and Blake peered over from the metal container, the male teen a bit curious of the fight between Jaeger and Roman.

"Raine?"

He flinched when he heard a very familiar voice, turning back to find Moon standing there looking at him with surprise, "What are you doing here?-!"

"That's what I want to ask you!" Raine cried.

"I-I went together with Mr Jaeger and…" Moon stated.

"He's mine!" He then heard Blake scream as she dashes out of cover towards Roman as Jaeger was kicked back and Sun blocked a flaming projectile for him. "Blake, wait!" Raine cried in vain, "Ah dammit…" He groaned before he felt a jolt at the back of his head. He turned around blocking Vento with his short sword and now a broken katana. "Seriously Vento? I'm a middle of something here!"

Vento leaped back to dodge a swing kick from Raine. The merc smirked as he prepared to strike again. "Moon get back." Raine sheathed his broken katana and threw his sheathed sword to his teammate. Vento strikes down with Raine blocking it with his short sword, "Let's see the best you got!" He shouted as he raised his blade ready to strike down at him.

* * *

Back with Blake, she carries on to strike down at Roman with her two blades who backs away while deflecting her every strike with his cane at a surprising fast pace. This leads for the cat Faunus to dash about, slide and zoom around him in hope of landing a hit, only for him to smack her attack away before landing a good hits in ending with a strong beating knocking her away.

Jaeger leaped forward and kicks the criminal in the chest, followed by a series of punches and kicks between the two, Roman blocking and hitting back with his cane. They are then place into a stalemate with a lock between their weapons. They fired their respective weapons, aimed at their face which they dodge with a shift of their head as their projectiles hits the containers. Roman smirked as he pushed back and land a series of smacks to his opponent and kick Jaeger away.

Sun then appeared and rush towards Roman hitting him with his staff, which he followed by splitting it into two while knocking out at him. They then split into two nunchucks, spinning around hitting down at him in two spinning circles of fire that reveals to be two red shotguns connected by a string which fires with each spin and cocks with each swing. This leads to a series of spinning fire and shotgun shots fired at Roman. The criminal blocking the rapid fire of shotgun shells with relative ease not expecting Blake to zoom in and slices down at him, knocking him back while Jaeger runs up and punches him further back, skidding on his back.

While on his back, he saw a large metal container dangling above them and took the opportunity. He got back up and fired his cane gun at the container, sending it falling down towards his assailants who rolled out of the way. Sun wasn't lucky as he rolled to right in front of Roman's nuzzle.

* * *

It is at the same time when Raine deflected another of Vento's strikes, followed by a series of sword slashes at each other before being pulled into a deadlock between their swords. "You've gotten better." The merc smirked.

"Beacon isn't one of the best Hunter academy in Remnant for nothing." Raine smirked as he pushed back the blade only to meet with a kick to the chest, knocking him back, "Okay… that's some ribs bruised…" He muttered.

Vento walked up with to him with his sword on his shoulder. But then moved to one side to dodge an aura arrow fired at him. Looking over, he saw Moon with her Gauntlet Bow out aimed at him, "L-Leave him alone!" She cried out.

"An aura bow." Vento smirked, "Rare. Then again, you're a Schnee right?" He slowly walk over to Moon, "Oh yeah. They did mention something about a pay rise if I eliminate one of them along the way, right?" His smirk widen into a rather cocky grin, "If that's the case~"

"Moon, get out of here!" Raine cried out.

"B-But I can't just leave you…!" Moon cried out. But was cut short when Vento reappeared in a blink of an eye as he grabbed her by the neck, lifting the girl up off the ground. The archer tries her best to pull the arm off her, but to no avail as Vento positioned his sword ready to stab her.

"It's a shame really." Vento chuckled, "Don't hold it against me, girl. I'm just doing my job."

"Moon!"

As the merc stabs forward, the blade was stopped right there with the tip a mere inch away from Moon's neck. Vento glanced to his right, to find an angry fox Faunus with his hand gripped tightly around the orange blade. "Oh?" He grins a little.

"Ember?" Raine muttered in shock, "How did you-?-!"

"The large blue explosion." Ember stated, "But I'll explain the rest later." The fox knees the merc in the gut hard, causing him to drop his partner and following that with a strong punch to the merc's face, sending him flying through the metal container with a miniature explosion.

* * *

Roman looked down, aiming his cane gun with his finger on the trigger at Sun. The monkey would be toast if weren't for a slight distraction.

"Hey!"

He looked up, Ruby Rose appearing on the rooftop with her Crescent Rose scythe deployed as she digs it into the ground. "Well, hello, Red!" Roman said mockingly, "Isn't pass your bedtime?" Jaeger used this small instance and fired at Roman's cane, knocking it out of his hand. "Checkmate." He smirked aiming his gun between the criminal's eyebrows.

"Ruby, are these people your friends?" Penny asked as she walked up from behind Ruby.

"Penny, get back." Ruby cried, getting Jaeger's attention for a moment which Roman took and pushed him away and picked the cane before firing it at Ruby, sending her flying across the roof with the explosive round before he aimed and fired a round at Jaeger and sending him skidding across the floor.

"Muahahaha!" Roman laughed before he heard a large explosion and Vento was send flying over his head and crashing into the broken container hard. Ember walked out of the hole that he punched Vento through, both his swords are out.

"Oooookaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy…" Vento muttered as he stood back up, "Never thought that this would happen."

"Ember?" Blake muttered.

Ember walked up to them, growling angrily, "The White Fang, degraded to thieves… I'm truly disappointed…"

A member of the White Fang looked down at him and instantly recognised him, "You! Traitor!" He shouted.

"Traitor?" Ember growled a little, before smirking a little, "I didn't betray anyone. It's the White Fang that has betrayed my expectations."

"Talk all mighty all you can, traitor." The soldier growled as his comrades all raised their guns and swords at him, his teammates peeked out from the hole he made, "We will end you here."

"Ember…?" Moon muttered.

He then heard someone leaped down from the rooftop in front of them, Penny firing three of her swords floating behind her at the soldiers knocking two down before landing on the ground, where she proceeds to swings her floating blades at them, impaling one into the wall. Ember then proceeds to swings his swords at the closet soldiers in a series of swipes aimed at their vitals periodically switching them into their gun mode to fire at them. Penny blocked one of their attacks with a spinning of her swords before spinning them in a wheel of blades that she sends flying and knocking most of them off their feet.

"Whoa!" Sun stated before proceeding to safety.

Bullheads starts to fly down and open fire at them, Penny spinning her swords in front of her like a shield while Ember swinging his blades around deflecting all the bullets. The Faunus sheathed his swords as took to a sprint and stomped forward, an explosion reacted under his sole that sends him flying up towards the airship, crashing into it at the nose. He then leaped over to its roof and lands a punch right on the roof with a miniature explosion that broke through its armour like plaster.

Penny at this point has her swords swirled around in front of her with their tips opened up as their spin starts to get faster and faster as a large green orb of energy. She then punches forward blasting a large green laser that slices one right through, causing several White Fang members inside to fall out of the broken ship. She then proceeds to launch two of her swords at one of the remaining Bullheads holding onto it as the wires around her swords tightened with her tugging him back.

"Whoa…" Ruby muttered in awe looking over on the roof, "How is she doing that?"

"Wires." She looked over to her right at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, Saffron walking up to her with full golden metal armour surrounding around her arms that reaches just passed her elbows with a shoulder plate on her right shoulder plate that has a circle of yellow light illuminating from it, "To think someone is capable of mastering that form of weapon system…"

"U-Um…?" Ruby muttered confused.

Roman looked at the fact that one of the airships is falling to the small girl hand, he turned around and took to the spare transport with Vento not far behind him.

Penny stepped back a little before pulls hard on her strings, sending the aircraft crashing into the stack of crates filled with Dust, causing a large explosion that is followed by a larger explosion from within. Jaeger looked over at the explosion and his hand hits his face with a groan, "Saffron… really…?"

"These kids just keep getting weirder and weirder…" Roman muttered as he closed the door to the airship, the Bullheads starts to take off leaving the docks.

Raine looked on at the scene with his jaw wide opened, "Did that girl just hadouken a freaking green laser… and cut through a Bullhead like butter…?" He then notices Moon wasn't responding and saw where her gaze is, at her own partner that has walked out of the flames towards them.

"T-Traitor…?" She stuttered.

* * *

The people all involved just stood by them sitting or standing around as the police did their work. They already questioned the students about the incident and are currently waiting for the forensics team to check the crime scene. Moon already contacted Akai and telling her that they are okay and Blake has told the others the full story.

Team REM all stood around as the leader looked at Ember, his partner looking at him worriedly. "So, you want to start explaining?" Raine asked.

"…Nothing more than what you have seen." Ember stated, "I too was once of the White Fang, but I left about a year ago. Seeing the consequences of my actions and the actions of the group, I've couldn't take it any longer."

"So, the same as Blake, huh?" He stated.

"Yeah, but unlike her, I'm trying to make amends for my sins." Ember stated, "I've taken down several branches of the White Fang all over Vacuo and Atlas already, got rid of most of their plans for any further bombing, and even killed off as many White Fang members I can find."

"Killing?-!" Moon cried, "T-That's just as bad as what the White Fang are doing!"

"To save a life means forfeiting another." Ember stated, his partner widen in shock, "Those are the words that I've lived by. It isn't possible to save everyone, that I knew. Killing was the only major skill I know all my life, the only skill that I could master perfectly and the only way I could atone for the blood I've spill. If I'm damned for hell, I'll drag along all those that have sinned along with me."

"Ember…"

"Is that why you didn't care for Blake?" Raine asked, "Because she was a coward that is running away from her sins?"

"Is that true?" Ruby asked.

"…"

Raine sighed, "Well, you did possessed a sick semblance, so who cares?" He said laughing a little, his teammates along with Sun, Ruby and Blake looked at him sweat-dropped.

"Is he always like this?" Blake asked Ruby.

"I can't really remember. I was like five when he moved away." Ruby stated.

"I'm starting to question his mental condition here…" Sun muttered.

"There you are!" They heard the familiar voice of their second-in-command, Akai stomping up to them and open fire against Raine, their leader dodging all the bullets to his feet while doing a funny and awkward-looking dance, "Do you have any idea how worried I was?-! The leader disappearing for two days straight!-! TWO DAYS!-! How irresponsible can you get?-!"

"Is this normal in your team?" Blake asked Moon.

"More or less." Moon stated, "Almost everyday she would shoot him at least once."

"So that's why there are bullet holes almost everywhere in the hallway…" Ruby muttered.

She finally run out of bullets, Raine now leaning on his knees for support, panting from exhaustion. "Stupid, stupid, stupid…" She grumbled angrily, "Do not do that again!-!"

"O-Okay… *pant* just… *pant* let me… *pant* catch my… *pant* breath…"

"Akai worrying over someone…?" Sun muttered before walking over and pinching her cheeks, "Nope, its real."

"Stop that!" Akai shouted swatting away Sun's hand.

Raine soon manages to catch his breath before looking at the colour of Akai's hair, "Oh!" He said in realization, "It's your hair…!"

"Huh? What about my hair?" She asked angrily.

"But it's more crimson than scarlet…" Raine muttered, "Akai Crimson… yeah, Scarlet is the better name anyway."

"S-Scarlet…?-!" Akai shouted her face flushed red before turning to Sun with a fearsome glare grabbing a fistful of his shirt pulling his face close to her, "You TOLD him?-!"

"H-He's your partner!" Sun cried out, "H-He deserve to know!"

"That's my business, not yours!" Akai cried.

"You know, you are pretty cute with your face flushing." Raine stated out loud.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Was it something I said?" He asked, before smirking a little as he saw his partner's face turn crimson like her hair.

"C-C-C-C-C-Cute…?-!" She muttered, before pulling out her pistols against and start firing at him, "Shut up! StupidjerkIhateyou!" She cried out as her bullets try to hit her leader and partner only to miss as Raine starts to speed up with his semblance so fast that there are illusionary copies of him in many funny stances.

"But worried about me?" Raine chuckled along with his afterimages, "You do care~ Falling for me?"

"Not in the eternity!" Akai shouted angrily blushing.

"I see her trigger finger is even more sensitive than before…" Sun sighed.

"This is the first time I've seen Akai this flustered before…" Blake stated.

"Oh! Akai is the Tsundere type of girl!" Moon stated in realisation.

"She definitely fit the bill…" Ember muttered.

"I'm surprise she even know what that means." Ruby stated.

Akai finally run out of spare magazines and bullets to fire at Raine, her partner panting in exhaustion slightly. At this point, Weiss and Yang has arrived at the scene. "Look Weiss," Ruby starts talking, "It's not what you think! She explained the whole thing. See, she doesn't really have a bow, she has kitty ears and they're actually kinda cute…" She was, however, ignored by her partner as the heiress walked up to Blake.

The cat Faunus looked up at the white haired girl, everyone else all looked intensively, "Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang." Blake tells her, "Back when I was with them-"

"Stop!" Weiss cried out much to everyone surprise, "Do you have any idea of how long we've been searching for you?-!"

"Um…"

"TWELVE! HOURS!" She cried, "That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours, I've decided…" Everyone all look on, worried about the answer. "I don't care."

"You… don't care?" Blake muttered.

"You said you've not one of them anymore, right?"

"No, I-I haven't been since I was younger-"

"Ah-bah-bah-bah-bah!" Weiss stated shaking a finger in front of Blake, "I don't want to hear it. All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up… you'll come to your teammates. And not some…" She glanced at Sun, "S-Someone else."

"Nice catch!" Raine chuckled.

"Oh shut up, the blue deviant there." Weiss muttered.

Blake looked at her teammates, Yang and Ruby grinning at her. She smiled a little as she wiped a small tear by the side of her eye, "Of course." She nodded.

"Yeah!" Ruby cheered, "Team RWBY is back together!"

"Good for you." Ember muttered, Blake looking at the fox Faunus and her partner growled as she stomped towards him angrily.

"I still got a bone to pick with you!" Yang growled as she pulls him to her face by his shirt, "What's your deal with shouting at my sister for?-! She has done nothing to you at all!"

"Yang, calm down!" Ruby cried, "I-It's not that bad, really!"

Ember grabbed onto her arm, squeezing tightly that even Yang is hissing in pain as he pulls her hand away from him. He then let go with her retracting her hand rubbing her sore wrist. He looked at Blake, the cat Faunus looked back her hands near where her heart is. He gave her a small smile, "You got a great partner this time, Blake."

She blinked a bit, before smiling back at him, "Indeed."

"Huh? Huh?" Yang looked between them, confused, "You guys know each other?"

"We'll explain later." Raine laughed.

"Huh?-! Why?-!"

Jaeger and Saffron walked out from within the crime scene, in the male's hand is the familiar broken blade of Kotegiri, "Pure Dustinium blade…" He muttered as he examined it, "I wonder how much this can fetch on the market?"

"It is better worth at least as much Roman's bounty!" Saffron cried.

"Well, I can assure you that it is probably around in the hundred thousands…" Jaeger stated, "If we can find the handle, it would probably multiply it by at least a hundred times."

Moon then notices them and ran up to them, "I can't thank you enough for what you done today." She stated.

"No need for thanks." Saffron smiled, "It was along the way, anyway."

"So, he is your leader?" Jaeger smirked as he looked at Raine, the leader of RAEM just dodging a round-house kick from Akai.

"He's quite a stud." His partner giggled.

"No preying on minors." He tells her firmly.

"Ah! Come on! I didn't say I was after him!" She cried out, "Geez, why do you think I've a fetish for early teenagers?"

"Because you do."

"…I got nothing…"

Moon then notices the sword blade in Jaeger's hands, "Hey! That's the same blade as Kotegiri!"

"Oh? Do you recognized this blade?" He asked.

"It's my leader's sword." She tells him, "Now that I think of it, his sword was broken just now in the fight…"

"…" Jaeger looked down at the blade, before giving it to Moon.

"Ah! Jaeger!" Saffron cried.

"This blade belongs to him." He tells his partner, "He deserves to have it back. Besides, think of it as atonement for planting an explosive on a crate full of Dust."

"I thought it was an empty crate!"

Moon looked at the metal blade in her hands, before looking up to see Saffron and Jaeger walking away, "See you later, kiddo~!" The older lady called out.

"Y-Yeah!" Moon called back. She then ran back to her team to return her leader his broken blade.

* * *

Elsewhere, a rather large airship, similar to a large aircraft carrier with six turbo engines on its sides, flew across the skies in the night above the clouds, the broken moon shining brightly on it. A lone person stood on it, a late teens nearing his twenties with spiky black hair tied in a spiky tail near the back of his neck and golden hued brown eyes stood looking out over the railing with his arms on it.

The unique thing here is his arm, his left arm is mechanical-looking with claws-like fingertips. He is wearing a white coat with blue hoodie underneath with the logo of a hexagon jewel with a sword pierced through in the middle from below printed on the back of the coat in black, a white pants with two black belts around his thighs and black shoes, bluish steel greaves that just covered around his ankle.

On his back is a straight silver bladed nodachi sword with a black metallic case as its guard that has a bronze plated revolver cylinder in the middle of it complete with a black gun hammer, blackish metallic handle with a trigger guard near the sword guard and an additional bike brake lever beneath the trigger.

"Out for fresh air, Nexus?" A feminine voice spoke, the teen looked back to see a well-endowed young lady walking up to him. She has purple shoulder-length hair with red eyes, wearing a brown tub top with purple with blue stripes gloves reaching just below her shoulder blade and violet tight jeans with black platform boots. A black belt around her waist holstering a carbine Browning BLR lever-action rifle minus the butt-stock with cleaver shaped blade covering the length of its 60cm barrel.

"Ah, Eve." Nexus greeted. The lady walked up to him on the railings leaning on it with her hip, "It is beautiful, isn't it?" She stated.

"Indeed." He stated, "Where's Leona?"

"He's busy fixing up his armour." She tells him, "It was pretty messed up in that battle."

"Indeed…" He muttered.

"Oh, and Bliz is there to help him." She added.

"You sure?" Nexus asked with an eyebrow raised, "I mean, you know how she is."

"That's what she said she would do, Nexus." Eve stated, "I've never said she did do it."

He sighed before standing up straight, his friend looked at him before standing up as well, "What are you thinking?" She asked.

"Just about my brother…" He sighed, "I wonder if he's doing well, whether he's adapting well…"

"Oh, he'll be fine." Eve tells him, "Raine is pretty strong, he can handle himself."

"Still, I'm quite worried." He muttered.

She sighed a little and walked up to him from behind, wrapping her arms around his chest, "Nexus, don't worry so much." She tells him with a smile, "He's a member of the Hunter Clan too, and we all know how tough all your family members are."

"I know…" Nexus muttered, "It's just that…"

She got in front of him and tap her finger on his nose lightly, "Now, now, protective big brother." She chuckled, "If you keep frowning, your handsome face will be ruined~"

He looked at her for a moment, before chuckling a little, "Yeah, I guess you're right." He leaned forward and pecked her on the lips lightly, "Thank you, Eve."

"Anytime." She chuckled, before her eyes changed colour, now pure violet and her hair turned reddish-brown, "Heya~ Ne-ne~"

"Oh, Eva?" He blinked, 'Why did you come out?"

"Come on!" She pouted, "It was boring inside her, nothing but void! And it's not fair that Eve is the only one who get the kiss~! I want one too!"

"Ah…" He then chuckled again, "You and Eve are sure a weird combo…" He leaned down and pecked her on the lips again, Eva took the advantage and leaned in for a deeper kiss, putting in her tongue into his mouth. Nexus flinched in surprise, only to carry on with him trying to gain the advantage in this tongue battle. They stopped for air, separating with a small string of saliva in between.

"Heated as always." She panted flushed.

"You started it." He chuckled before walking away from the railings to inside the ship.

…

_To be continued…_

**There we have it! Finally, I have trouble  
writing this and how to show the several  
characters here… And well, we now  
finally show Raine's other brother  
and his team!**

**And I'll probably start to create small  
story arcs for team BLAZ and LIGT soon,  
maybe the next chapter but I'll see what  
I can do.**

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**


	11. Chapter 9

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

**Chapter 9 Arms Dealer**

* * *

It has been a couple of days since the incident at the docks. Blake has opened up a little to her team and her friends, spending more time with them and with Ember, surprisingly. But, there hasn't been a report of any robberies of Dust of late so she was a bit at eased.

Ember then slowly explained all of his involvement to his team and RWBY. They've learnt a lot of things, like him used to be one of the White Fang's most prominent figures in terms of fighting, and that he and Blake were acquainted with each other. He explained that he was actually childhood friends with her ex-partner in the White Fang, Adam Taurus, and that he was introduced to her by him. Another major surprise is the fact he was once on Atlas most wanted list, his bounty reaching 750 000 Lien. When asked if he is okay here, he said that the bounty only applies in Atlas, so he is safe here.

Not that he is bothered by it, considering his skills and strengths.

Moon passed the broken blade to Raine, hoping that it might be able to help fix his sword. He, however, stated that it would not help fix in as he would need to re-forge the blade from the broken one and it would damage the quality of the original blade, so he decided to order a new one. When ask where he is going to order, he just told them it is classified. This left Raine with only one sword, the Fudo.

It is now Tuesday, and they have just break for lunch after another long and boring lesson of Grimm Studies by Professor Port. This time, RAEM is sitting with LIGT and BLAZ, RWBY at the Dean's Office for Blake's questioning by Ozpin and JNPR is at another table today. "Seriously, he just won't shut up!" Torque groaned leaning his head on the table, "All his stories are all stupid and lame!"

"It is a great period for napping though." Leaf stated, before suppressing a yawn.

"Leaf, you're always napping." Gamma pointed out.

"Must be nice to be able to sleep around like that." Moon said.

"But it isn't good for your image." Zi tells him, "No one likes a lazy leader."

"That's one word for it." Ember stated.

"He's just pretty laid back, that's all." Raine chuckled, "I mean, we won't want someone too serious now, do we? Especially at our age."

"That's true." Lloyd pointed out.

"At least it is better than having a deviant joker as a leader." Akai mumbled looking at her leader.

"Now that's just harsh…" Brock muttered.

"I don't mind." Raine grinned, "All I know I've left an impression in my partner now~!"

"…What's with your leader?" Zi asked, "Does he even care how his partner views him?"

"He didn't really care about anything, really." Ember stated sighing, "He does everything in his own pace, and we have to go with the flow…"

"That's just what makes Raine amazing, I guess…" Lloyd pointed out, "He didn't care what kind of past his friends have, and accept them if they are his liking."

"That, or he is just a naïve kid."

"There's that."

"Hey! I take offence to that!"

"…" Ivy stood silent, looking at her scroll all the time the conversation is happening. Leaf groaned as he slouched onto the table, his eyes already heavy and threatening to close. He looked to his right, where his partner sat there looking at her scroll for the past minute, "Is something wrong, Ivy?" Leaf asked curiously.

"Ah! Um…" She flinched a little as she kept her scroll, "I-It's nothing! Just a text from an old friend…"

"Old friend, huh?" Leaf muttered.

"Oh, that reminds me. Akai, what happened to your friend? That blonde monkey Faunus." Raine asked.

"He's fine. Apparently, he was a transferee from Haven and is currently staying at the different dorm." She explained, "He sure knows how to get in trouble just by coming here…"

"He's definitely look like the type to do such things." Ember stated.

"Once a monkey, always a monkey, I guess?" Ruby asked.

"Like his animal heritage!" Moon giggled, before noticing the glares she was getting from her Faunus friends, "U-Um… I-I find it rather charming, that's all!"

"Although, it is pretty funny for some Faunus to act similar to their animal counterparts."Zi stated, "Are all Faunus like this?"

"Well, Torque seems to like biting on his weapon's chains a lot for some reason…" Gamma stated.

"Oh, and I saw Professor Fenier snacking on dog biscuits once." Brock stated.

"Ivy seems to like meat, for some reason…" Leaf added.

"Oh! Blake seems to be in love with tuna too!" Yang added in giggling, "She thinks they are tuna-licious!"

"…that's not even remotely funny…" Ember deadpanned.

"I beg to differ!" She huffed, gesturing to Leaf who is laughing uncontrollably.

The entire conversation just stirred itself to how Faunus have certain ticks represented by their animal instincts. All this time, Ivy didn't really pay much attention as she looked at the message on her scroll. "…"

* * *

Night has fallen, the moon shines bright over Beacon as three individuals are on the rooftop exchanging blows. Raine swinging Fudo at Jaune who blocked it with his sword and uses his shield to block an incoming attack from Pyrrha. The swordsman pushes back on the sword with his wakizashi and stabs forward towards the blonde's head, he ducking in response and causing Pyrrha to fall forward from lack of support and he pushes up knocking the Spartan up and over him.

Raine spun his short sword in his hand a while, before dashing and stabbing forward quickly. Jaune did not see that coming and bend backwards to try and dodge the strike only to slip and fall on his behind, his sword and shield dropping to the sides on impact.

"Are you okay, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she helped him on his feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" He muttered, "Man, Raine, you are brutal…"

"You wish to become strong, didn't you?" Raine asked as he sheathed his sword, "But you're making great progress. You actually pushes Pyrrha over you! That is no easy feat."

"She was going easy on me." The blonde sighed.

"I-It's still a great improvement!" Pyrrha stated.

"Even though Pyrrha is holding back, she still isn't easily pushed back." Raine stated with a smirk, "She isn't known as untouchable for nothing. Heck, she didn't even use her semblance at all."

"Neither did you." She added.

"So both of you are holding back…" Jaune sighed dejectedly.

"C-Come on now!" Pyrrha cried, "You are still new to this after all!"

"Look on the bright side." Raine stated laughing, "You are definitely stronger than Cardin now!"

"Yeah, but compared to the others…" He sighed.

"Hey, that's a start!" Raine smirked, "Every great success starts with a single step, after all! I've trained a long time before reaching the level I am now!"

"Yeah, but you're… you know…"

"My family has nothing to do with it at all!" He stated, "All of my skills, my agility and techniques, are all self-taught! And I was part of the merc group for a while and fighting against the Neo Grimms…"

"We get it, we get it…" Pyrrha sighed, "No need to brag it to us all the time…" Raine chuckled at their tired sigh, before hearing a slight ringing from his pocket. He took out his scroll and opened it, reading the message he has received. He let out a small sigh before walking to the door, "Sorry, but duty calls." He tells them waving his scroll.

"A mission from them?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah, can't tell you the details." He tells them, "Well, see you in the morning!" He then proceeds to run out of the door into the corridor. As he passed by a corner, Ivy came out nearly bumping into him. "Ah! Ivy!"

"R-Raine…? W-Why are you up so late?" She asked.

"I could ask you the same question." He replied with a smirk, "So, what? Out for a romantic rendezvous?"

"N-No!" She cried blushing, "I… I have some stuff I need to do." Her face casted a small shadow over itself, a downcast look in her eyes much to his surprise, "See you tomorrow morning." She then walked swiftly passed him.

'What's with her…?' He wonders.

* * *

After changing into his creed uniform, which he stored in his locker along with Masamune, he heads out in the cover of the night. 'The mission tonight is about a possible weapon smuggling for The Order of Dark…' He landed on a random rooftop and took out his scroll, looking at the message again, 'Let's see… The name is Siege, Faunus… what type…? Not sure…?' He kept his scroll in his pocket, "Damn, not much to go on, huh…"

He jumped across to another rooftop, leaping into the air and landing onto a glyph of white with the symbol of the sword's adornment with his hood down. Not that he need to put his hood up, he is pretty high up for anyone to notice his face. "Now… it is at a dock near here…" He looked around, before noticing someone really familiar on the streets.

"Ivy…?"

The girl is indeed walking along the streets, her weapon sling on her shoulder. Raine looked at the direction which she is heading, 'The docks…?' The glyph under his feet disappeared as he dropped onto a rooftop overlooking the docks.

Walking towards the edge, he looked down, watching Ivy summons out a portal behind one of the crates, teleporting into another portal on top of a shipping container. She took her weapon of her back and held it steady, looking through the scope. From there, on the docks stood two men.

One of them wore a black trench coat over a white dress shirt, dark brown pants with black leather shoes, a black fedora on his head blocking his eyes with a Grimm mask that covers his entire face and black gloves. The other wore a dark grey turtleneck with a silver chest plate under white turtleneck hoodie with blue highlights around its rims and ends of its sleeves, similar dark grey tight pants with black boots that extends to just a few inches under his knee pad, he having neck-length scruffy bright cyan hair and onyx eyes.

Both of them stood in the middle of a huge numbers of shipment containers, each with a similar logo as the one on Moon's clothes.

After a few moments later, several Bulldogs flew down in front of them. Its hatch door opened and out stepped several White Fang soldiers, they walked up to the man in the trench coat. "The goods?" The soldier asked.

The man gestured to his partner, he nodded as he pointed back on the shipment container. The soldiers walked over to the shipment containers, opening it up revealing several wooden crates. Ivy peered even more at the crates through her scope, one of the soldiers opened one of the crates revealing several assault rifles and magazines, along with several bladed weapons and pistols.

"The money?" The man in the mask asked. One of the soldiers walked up to him with a steel briefcase, opening it up and showing to him. He nodded and took the briefcase, "All yours."

The soldiers start to load up the hundreds of crates into their vehicle as their dealers slowly walked away. "Oh, and take care of the nosy one, would ya?" The man in the trench coat stated, pointing at Ivy's direction startling the girl. All the White Fang soldiers picked out their weapons and fired at her.

At that moment, a flash of black zooms past and pulls her out of the bullet's range, drags her down the containers and dropped her by the alley before zooming back to the docks.

Raine skidded to a stop, hood pulled over his head and blue glowing eyes looking over at the miniature army. "Hands in the air!" One of the soldiers shouted pointing his rifle at him. Raine place his hand on his sword's handle, before dashing forwards into a blur, drawing his sword and slashing the first soldier.

He got another soldier with a second stroke before sheathing his weapon while reverse-roundhouse kick another in the head and unsheathing his blade slashing the one behind him. Several more rushed him from behind, he somersaulted over them and drew his sword out at them slashing over a hundred times on them before a final stab that sends them flying from the pressure of the strike. Few more stepped forward firing their rifles, Raine swings his sword back and forth deflecting the bullets with ease before charging forward while blocking, flashing past the group.

He let out a deep breath as he slowly sheathed Masamune, and when the sword clicked in place, the soldiers fall over unconscious. He looks around, scanning the docks for any signs of the two men. Taking a few steps forward, he flashed backwards to avoid a bullet shot. "You react fast." The man in the hoodie smirked, in his hand is a Glock 40 pistol, "But that outfit, a member of the Creed?"

Raine placed his hand onto his sword's handle, ready to draw it in a moment's notice.

"You're lucky I'm under-armed tonight, Vigilante." He stated holstering his gun, "Well, duty calls." He gave him a mock salute-wave before running in the opposite direction, away from Raine's line of vision. The teen relaxed a bit as he heard some vehicles flying away, a Bulldog flying away in the distance with a large shipment container under it.

"…This is just getting rather complicated…" Raine sighed.

* * *

The next day, Raine spend the time after school in the library. He is reading up on some books about the legends of Remnant, the many heroes that helped defeated the Grimm or generally did the impossible and created miracles. His mind wanders to the event last night, 'What was Ivy doing at the docks? It looks like she was looking for someone…'

His mind thought back to that man he encountered at the docks. He knows about the Creed, and Raine knows that he is bad news. He didn't even view him as a threat, a pest even. But what got him thinking was his involvement with the White Fang. 'I feared the worst… The White Fang and the Order of Dark working together… this isn't good…'

He closed the book in his hands as he let out a low sigh, "…Things are going to get tiring from here on out, huh…?" He leaned back on his chair looking up at the ceiling.

* * *

Ivy sat by the bench outside by the courtyard, her eyes looking up at the clouds. As the clouds float harmlessly by, a certain memory flashes in her head.

* * *

"_What are you doing out here in the woods?" A man in a trench coat asked the girl on his couch with a blanket over her tiny body, "Answer the question."_

"…_I ran away…"_

"_Ran away?" He asked, "From what?"_

"…_Everything…" She muttered._

"_You know, the wilderness isn't some haven for runaway kids." He tells her, "If I didn't ran into you, you would have died." Her silence was enough for him, "Name."_

"_Huh?"_

"_Your name. What is it?" He asked._

"…_Ivory…"_

"_Ivory, huh?" He stated, "Listen. If you are going to stay here, you have to listen to all my orders, got it? I'll teach you as much as I could about surviving, but you have to feed yourself. All your meals are to be hunted by yourself and yourself have to prepare it. Is that clear?"_

"…_Yes." She nodded, "…Your…name…?"_

"…_Just call me Siege."_

"…_Siege…"_

* * *

She sighed at the memory. 'Siege…' She thought.

"Is everything okay, Ivy?" Her leader's voice knocked her out of her thoughts, Leaf walking up to her.

"Leaf." She greeted her partner, "…It was nothing, just remembering some stuff from my past…"

"I see." He nodded, "…Ivy."

"Yes, Leaf?"

"If there is anything bothering you, you could confine it with me." He tells her, "I'll keep it between us, so…"

"It's fine, really." She tells him with a smile, "…I got to go." She stood up and walked away, only for Leaf to stop her in her tracks via grabbing her wrist, "…Let go."

"Ivy, you have been acting strange since you got that text yesterday." He tells her, "You were completely out of it. What is it that is bothering you? You can tell me!"

"…You're just repeating yourself." Ivy muttered as she shook his hand off her wrist, "And someone like you wouldn't understand." She form a portal under her and teleports away.

"…" Leaf was left there confused.

* * *

Later that night, Ivy left the school yet again in the cover of the night. She made it to a more shady side of town, with a few men raised an eyebrow at the presence of the young girl Faunus in such a neighbourhood. She entered through a big sliding door, the beating of dubstep can be felt as the entire club shook from the music. She glanced up at the two girls sitting on the tables upstairs, both in a gothic loliltia style dress and headwear, the one in red having claws equipped while the one in white having high boots with sharp edges near the heels.

She notices the stares from their jade green eyes and looked away as she walks towards the bar counter, a burly man with a black buzzcut and goatee in a bartender uniform cleaning a glass with a white cloth. When he notices Ivy sitting down by the counter alone, as well as the rifle-chainsaw on her back, he got close to her with a curious expression.

"Kid, aren't you a bit young to be in a club at this hour?" He asked, "Where's your parents?"

She growled slightly before pulling out a scroll, "I'm looking for someone." She tells him, "And I've heard of an information broker in the form of a club owner that knows the ins and outs of the Vale's underworld. Isn't that right, Junior?"

"…So you know who I am." He sighed, "First the blonde berserker, now a white-haired brat…? So, what do you want to know?"

"Are there any smuggling plans from this man lately?" She asked, introducing the picture of the masked man to Junior from her scroll. The man studied the picture for a bit, before groaning, "Ah… Siege, is it…?"

"You know him?"

"Well, I wish I didn't…" He groaned, "He's the main weapon supplier for the White Fang after all… The last time I've heard of any plans from him is last night, and then… he hired one of the worst people in the underworld…"

"One of the worst…?"

"That man, Siege, why are you finding him?" Junior asked, "If you're a newbie bounty hunter, I suggest someone else."

"No." She tells him, "I have to find him. He and I… have a deal to settle…"

"…I not here to send a young girl to her death but…" He groaned, "If you put it that way… He has a new shipment going out to the White Fang within a couple of days. Not sure where, but I have heard of a mechanic garage that seems to have a huge supply of weapon parts ordered from the BAP."

"The name?"

"If you want to know, order something." He tells her placing down the now cleaned glass, "I suggest something light for your first drink."

* * *

The next day, Raine read up some new data he got for his mission on the Faunus weapon smuggler. Now that he knows what the person looks like, he is able to locate him much more easily. 'Siege… age unknown… real name unknown…' He groaned, not as easy as he has hoped, 'There's nothing here… What's with this man…?'

He has searched all night and still no sign of him. He listened to the rumours all over town and even eavesdropped on some cops. But no clue. Even the higher ups of the Creed has little information on the man. 'Who is he, this Siege fellow…?'

Sighing for the tenth time for the day, he closed his scroll and left the library. 'But I doubt he would stay low for long… The last smuggling operation that night is probably not good for him… He would attempt to send the weapon supplies to the White Fang or the Order again… the only problem is… when…?'

As he was thinking about it, he overheard something.

"Weapon depo?"

He stopped in his steps and hid behind the corner of the hallway, "Yeah, the garage I worked at received a large amount of weaponry to work on." Brock tells his leader, "My boss is just holding it for his acquaintance for a while."

"Is the shop even big enough to fit it?" Lloyd asked.

"Don't know, but it did somehow." Brock stated.

"Huh…?" He nodded, "Speaking of which, is my sword repaired yet?"

"Oh yeah." The boomerang user nodded, "It was just a broken wire and nicked edge, so it wasn't that long. Come by the shop later tonight."

"Sure thing. The Shield'N'Spear right? And the bill…?"

"Well… it's about few hundred Lien…"

"That's a little over my budget… Can't you give me a discount?"

"Sorry, can't do that."

As their conversation goes on away from his hearing range, Raine stepped out of the corner, 'Shield'N'Spear… There's my next move…'

* * *

As soon as the sun sets, Ivy set foot on the streets once more. As she came upon the shop she was looking for, the small garage with the signboard of a shield with a spear in the middle of it that has the shop's name, Shield'N'Spear. 'This is where Siege would try to acquire his next shipment…' She thought as she tightened her hold on her gun's strap. She breathed out and entered the shop.

The bell by the door rang as she walked in, the lynx Faunus looked around the large shop. Inside of the shop is like of a gun shop, weapon parts and gears all displayed on the wall with a few cases for show to present the newest design or the most popular part, as well as a few counters by the sides where the employees are stationed. There weren't many people in the shop, but there are some employees that are messing around with some of the weapons that were presented to them by the customers.

She spied Brock behind the counter talking to his leader Lloyd while meddling with his sword, 'So Brock worked here…' She walked passed them as she looked around to find anything that could lead her to the possible weapon stash.

"Ivy?" She jumped when she heard a familiar voice. Mechanically turning round, she met face to face her partner and leader, Leaf Forrest, "What are you doing here?"

"I-I could be asking you the same question…" She muttered, 'What is he doing here?-! Did he followed me?-!'

"Oh, I'm here to pick up my sword." He stated, "Lloyd recommended this shop to me and my blade was fractured during the last combat lesson." Ivy sighed a little, "What about you?"

"H-Huh?"

"Your weapon, to my knowledge, is in tip-top condition." He said, "What are you doing here then?"

"Oh! I… er…" Her eyes dart around trying to avoid answering.

"Oh, hey, Leaf, Ivory." Lloyd called out, "You here too?"

"Yeah, just need to sharpen my blades." Leaf stated, "I don't know why SHE is here, though."

"U-Um…" She looked around nervously, before spotting Akai talking to one of the employees, "H-Hey! Akai!" She called out.

"Hm?" The girl turned to face them, before turning back to the employee.

'Please don't ignore me!' Ivy mentally cried out.

"Akai is shopping here?" Lloyd stated surprised as he notices the said girl, "I thought she would go for somewhere high-brow."

"Sorry for not being that well-known…" Brock growled angrily at his leader.

"…Thanks for the help." Akai thanked the employee, in her hand is a new rifle scope.

"No problem, miss." He said with a professional smile, "I hope that equipment will serve you well."

She paid the employee before taking out her rifle, switching out of the scope before looking through it. She aimed it out through the window, where she notices something grim.

A shimmering on top of one of the buildings.

"GET DOWN!" She called out as she pushes her fellow schoolmates down, just as an explosion rocked the entire store. The glass cases all broke from the shockwave and the shards all poured all over the unexpected employees and the unarmed customers. It was a good thing that the Beacon students all wore their combat outfit that evening so they didn't received that much damage.

As the smoke slowly cleared, several White Fang soldiers all rushed in through the broken door and window led by a man in a white hoodie, his onyx eyes stared at them with a smirk.

"Good evening." He greeted, before raising his arm with a black metallic briefcase opening up and its fragments expanded into a large black bazooka.

"This is a robbery."

…

_To be continued…_

* * *

**Yeah, I'm ending that on that note! Sorry that this took so long! My life has been quite hectic of late and I've got quite a writer's block on this.**

**And here another thing. I've found out about another story site similar to and fictionpress called . A reviewer PM'ed me on this contest it has this month and I manages to move some of my stories over there to try the site out.**

**It would be lovely if you check them out there and perhaps vote for it on the site. My profile site is:** ** colinyeo.**

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**


	12. Chapter 10

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

**Chapter 10 White Devil and Red Spectre**

* * *

Normally, Leaf spent most of his evenings just relaxing around. Maybe get some bites before tucking in, or even just check up on the updates on his social networking site, play some games on his scroll back in his dorm room to pass the time. It was just that this evening he had to pick his weapon from sharpening at the weapon garage Brock worked at. Nothing too complicated, just pick up his weapon and head back to Beacon.

He, however, did not expect to find his elusive partner at the same store.

He definitely did not expect to get caught in a robbery scheme by the White Fang.

'Man, it feels like I'm a shounen anime main character tonight…' Leaf mentally groaned.

The man in the hoodie smirked as he aimed threateningly at them, "…Hey!" He glared at the employees, "Bring the weapon stash over. And don't bother trying to lie. We know you have it."

"Weapon stash…?" Brock muttered.

The man fires his bazooka, the round explodes on the wall shocking the rest of them as he laughed a little, "Oppsie~ Sorry about that~ My trigger finger is just itchy that I just fired without thinking~" He gave them a smile, "There's no telling if that would happen again~"

Everyone in the store felt as if their spine has turned into ice, the smile he is giving isn't scary at the most, but the tension he is giving out is bone-chilling. The employees minus Brock all left the store and head into the back to get what the hoodie man wanted.

The man then looked around the store, before noticing Ivy kneeling there glaring at him intensively, "Oh? Isn't it the little spy that escaped the docks~" He stated as he walked up towards her, his weapon shifting back into a briefcase that he slung over his shoulder, "What a coincidence. Now I get to finish the job without the interference of that wannabe-vigilante."

He then raised his weapon to block a shot for his head. Lowering it, he glared at Akai who has her sniper rifle aimed and ready, she ejecting an empty shell with a cock. "…Ho ho?"

"White Devil, Blanc Argonaut." She stated as she got up, her weapon still aimed at him armed and ready, "What kind of job do you get this time?"

* * *

The employees all ran up the stairs, the couple floors above the store reserved for their stock as well as the weapon stash they have received yesterday. They don't know who needed that many weaponry, especially ones from the BAP, all they got is that it was from someone important.

And it is all going to the White Fang.

They can't believe that they are going to let that happen. But that man's really dangerous and they didn't want the store to turn into a place of massacre, so they could only do as he wanted.

"Is this it?" One of them asked as they entered the floor, several crates with the BAP's family crest on it lied all around.

"Damn those Faunus…!" Another of them grumbled angrily, "To think that we have to… It makes me sick!"

"What can we do?" Another guy stated, "If we don't do as he say…"

"…! We can blow all of this up!" The first one shouted, "That right! We can just destroy all of these! Then the White Fang can only get the ashes!"

"Wait, are you insane?!" One of them shouted angrily, "That could cause the entire upper floors to collapse! We all, including the people downstairs could die!"

"Better than to give it to those animals!" He stated firmly.

"Y-Yeah, but…"

A shot is that fired, the bullet piercing the employee's head, killing him instantly. Behind them, stood a man in a trench coat and wearing a full face Grimm mask with a fedora. "I can't let you do that." He stated with his pistol, a Chiappa Rhino Revolver with a 6 inch barrel smoking.

"W-Who…?"

"You may call me, Siege."

* * *

Back at the store, Akai already readied her sniper rifle aimed the crosshairs right between the man, Blanc Argonaut's eye brows, who has his eyes on her with a slight amusement reflecting in his eyes, "My… my oh my~" He chuckled, "I was wondering where you went but to think that you are here in Vale…"

"Akai…?" Ivy looked at her schoolmate with a confused reaction, 'Did she know that crazy man…?'

Blanc swings his briefcase as the weapon shifting into a new form, a huge single edged black sword almost as large as himself with a knuckle guard and its blade is like of a chinese saber. "This changes a lot of things~" He smirked, "You better stand back, White Fang soldiers."

"Mr. Blanc?" The soldiers looked at each other confused at the interaction.

The hooded merc raised his sword so that the tip of the weapon is nearly reaching Akai's face, "It's time I claim your bounty, Red Spectre."

She retaliated with a pull of her trigger, the rifle fired the anti-tank round straight at Blanc but was thrown off course when he pushed the rifle away before the bullet even left the barrel. With the bullet missing the target completely, Akai leaped back to avoid an upward swing of his sword that digs into the ceiling slightly as the blade grinds through the concrete when Blanc swings down at an angle at her. She manages to block that strike with her rifle, one of her pistol slides down her sleeves and she unleashed lead at him.

He maneuverer his sword to blocked the bullets, before his weapon shifted yet again into something like an M60 machine gun and let loose his own volley of bullets. Leaf decided to join in the fight as he brought out a green aura barrier that blocked the lead ammunition. "Red Spectre?" He asked.

"It's a long story." She stated as she brought her rifle up and fired, a clean shot scraped passed Blanc's cheek as he stopped firing before shifting his weapon back into a bazooka and fired the explosive Dust round that broke the barrier before shifting into a sword and slashes down on them. He was then forced to block an incoming boomerang blade that unleashed a burst of fire on impact, which he sends back with a swing, Brock catching it and tossing his other boomerang after.

The wind elemental boomerang clashes onto Blanc sword, this time a burst of wind on impact that sends him back slightly as he skidded on the ground. Lloyd that uses his opportunity to use his sword with electric current sparking between the grooves in the middle of his blade to strike onto the weapon, discharging the electricity at him. Blanc was stunned a little as the large amount of electricity runs through his body, his aura manages to allow the electricity to flow around his body to the ground without damaging his vital organs.

When he tries to move his numb body, within that moment Leaf charges forward with his greatsword ready and swung at him down, impacting onto his aura that sends him flying out of the shop. Blanc somersaulted and landed on his feet with a smirk, just as a portal appears behind him, Ivy leaped out of it with her chainsaw revved-up and she clashes it against him. He easily blocked it with his sword, he glances to her as her chainsaw clashes against his blade before he notices her pulling her trigger and the shot rang.

The Faunus relaxed a little, before her eyes widen in shock as Blanc winked at her with her bullet caught between his teeth, "You got to do better than that, my little Lynx~" He sang, as he pushes her blade back before his weapon shifts once more into a large tonfa-like weapon, it has the same handle as its sword form except shorter with what appears to be a black steel cannon barrel with a box that has ventilation on one of its sides and the spiked-end steel rod inside. With a pull of a trigger, the pike shot out of its barrel and impacted onto her and sends her flying into the air and crashing into one of the upper floors of the building.

The students of Beacon exited the shop, just as Blanc switches his weapon into its bazooka form, Leaf groaned, "Oh, come on-" and unleashed a series of explosive rounds at them. They scattered while dodging the blasts and Brock throws both his boomerangs this time, his wind merged with his fire and the two weapons spun in unison to form a flaming tornado that clashes with the mercenary. The man smirked as he and shifts his weapon into the sword mode and swings out so hard that the sword strike blew the attack away.

He was surprised when Lloyd appeared through the strands of fire with his sword in its dual weapon state and slashes down both his blades at him, Blanc clashes in with his own sword. The leader of BLAZ activate his weapon's electric module and shocked the man, at least that's what he wants to but his opponent shifts his weapon into its base state that caused him to fall forward. Blanc then uses this chance to swing his briefcase down at the young leader, Lloyd manages to get his bearings in time and blocked the intended strike with his right strike and stabs through the gap of their interlock with his semblance's increased reaction time with his other sword, Blanc catching the blade between his fingers just inches from his face.

Leaf took this chance to swing down at him with his two swords, the man easily maneuverer out of the way while tossing Lloyd onto the teen hard. Blanc then shifts his weapon into its tonfa mode before crashing the piledriver pike at the two students, Leaf manages to conjure a barrier to absorb the impact, causing it to break from the force. The man smirked before he moved to the side to avoid a bullet courtesy of Akai, Brock followed suit with charging at him with both his boomerangs wielded as kukuri swords and clashes on Blanc's tonfa.

"I must admit, I didn't expect to get pushed this far by newbies." Blanc stated as he pushes Brock back a little before kicking him in the gut and sends him crashing into Akai, "I might have to get a little serious now~" His tonfa shifts into its sword form, he swings the weapon down hard, impacting the concrete beside him.

"Prepared for the devil, children~" He stated as his eyes turned bright red with black sclera as he grinned, "Because he just came out to play~"

* * *

On top of the floor, Ivy grunted in pain as she tries to get up from the shards of glass surrounding the floor around her, her aura protecting her from getting any shards from impaling her skin, "T-That hurts…" She muttered as she struggles on to her knees.

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise?"

A familiar voice startled her, looking up to find Siege looking down at her, "Been well, Ivory?"

"S-Siege…" She grunted as she got onto her feet and lift her gun up to aimed at him, "Finally… I found you."

Behind him, the White Fang soldiers are all carrying large crates down the stairs, "Indeed, you have." He stated blankly, "I'm impressed. You manages to track me down. I guess that club owner really knows his stuff around."

"Siege…" She took careful aim as her breathing became more erratic with her finger twitching to pull the trigger.

"You ready to finally finish that order I gave you?" He asked, as he placed his hands behind his back, "Then do it. Shoot me. End me right now."

Her breathes became more shaky with each pant, her vision blurred in and out of focus as she struggles to pull the trigger. Memories of her life with him flashes in her mind from their first meeting to the time Ozpin accepted her into Beacon. She then slowly puts down her weapon, "I… I can't…" She sobbed as tears flowed down her eyes, dropping onto her knees in a sobbing mess.

"…I'm disappointed in you." He stated as he pulls out his revolver and took aim. His eyes narrowed behind his mask, "I expect you to grow when Ozpin recruited you. But you are as weak as you were all those years ago." As he is ready to pull the trigger, the wall behind Ivy exploded into pieces, the night sky and street now visible to the masked man.

Down on the streets, Leaf pants heavily gasping for oxygen as his barrier collapsed around him, bruises all over his face and his sleeves torn slightly. Akai, Lloyd and Brock all looked worst to wear too, bruises all over their faces and their clothes ruffled. Behind them, the upper floor's walls having a large gash that completely opens up the floor to the outside world.

Blanc smirked as he swings again, the students manages to dodge the strike but was then greeted with an upward swing manages to knock them back. Akai slung back her rifle and drew out her pistols and charges forward, her guns blasting lead towards the man who blocked it with his sword. When she reached closed enough, she fires under her and leaped, jumping over him and unleashed another rain of lead on him.

Blanc took the attack with little effect and when she lands behind him, he turned around, about to swing his sword at her only to get crossed slashed from behind by Lloyd and Leaf before Akai then punches straight at his face with her pistol, cracking his nose, and then Brock throws his boomerangs at him, this time when both attacks clashed down against him it explodes into a large burst of fire that consumes him completely.

Akai stood there in preparation for a counter attack as the two members of team BLAZ all relaxed a little, believing that it is finally over. Leaf, too, is looked on with sceptical looks.

"Heeheeheehee…"

"…?!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!" Blanc laughed as a swing from his sword blasts the flames away with ease as he grinned happily, his hoodie all burned away leaving only his long-sleeved undershirt, "THIS IS IT! THE BEST! I KNEW COMING TO VALE IS A GREAT IDEA!"

"What the hell…?" Lloyd muttered in shock, the man pulls his nose back with a loud crack, "What is this man…?"

"The White Devil of Vacuo." Akai stated.

"White Devil…?" Brock asked.

"Blanc! That's enough!" The man looked up, as well as the students there as well. Siege stares down at the man with his eyes drilling holes into Blanc's head, "You have attracted more than necessary attention!"

"Shut up, Siege!" Blanc shouted, "You're just paying me to act as the distraction and that's what I am doing!"

"Distraction?" Leaf wonders, before noticing his partner, sobbing next to him. "Ivy!"

The girl did not move, Siege taking interest as he turned to her, "I see you made comrades." He stated, "Humans at that."

"…"

"Siege, sir!" One of the White Fang soldiers ran up to him and took a salute, "The shipments are secured and ready to go!"

"Good job." The man nodded before facing down to Blanc, "Blanc! The job is done! Finish up and let's go."

"Already~?" Blanc whined, "I'm having a lot of fun now!"

"We got to go. The police is coming this way." He stated, "If you don't, I'm not paying you."

"WHAT?!" Blanc cried, "You can't do that, Siege!" A glare from said man confirmed the truth, "F-Fine!" He huffed as he shifts his weapon into its standby mode, "Just you all wait! I'll get you all next time!" He then ran off while the rest of the White Fang leaving. Siege turned away as he proceeds to walk to the stairs.

"S-Stop, Siege!" Ivy shouted as she got up, lifting her gun aiming at him only for it to get knocked off with a backhand from him and he grabbed onto her throat, lifting her up with her legs kicking the air as she tries to get his hand off.

"Give it up." Siege stated, "You wasted two chances I gave you. There won't be a third." A white blade then make itself known near his neck, the Hooded Vigilante positioning his sword ready to behead the man, "Ah, the vigilante arrives. A little too late, I'm afraid."

He then let go of Ivy's throat and spun while aiming his revolver at him, only to realize that he is gone. The hooded hero leaps out of the building with Ivy in his arms, rolling onto the pavement and letting her down. He then proceeds to run back up in a flash of black. When he got back up, Siege fires a bullet at him which he deflected with his sheathed weapon before unsheathing and strikes at him, the blade skimming across the trench coat like it was a steel wall.

He looked at the blade curiously, the dents on the blade revealing itself to him. "Dust-woven coat." Siege stated as he panted his coat down, "It's as hard as steel armour but retains the clothing's flexibility. It was quite a rare find." He pointed his revolver at him again and fired, the dust bullet flew towards the hero only to get cut down by his blade. This however allow a cover for Siege to take a run down the stairs. The hero was about to give chase after him, just as Blanc appeared behind him having leaped up from the streets several floors up in an instant.

"I'm not letting you!" He smirked as he swings his briefcase at him, but hitting an afterimage as the hero flashed forward and spun to a stop facing the mercenary. Blanc then proceeds to shifts his weapon into its machinegun state and was about to pull the trigger only to find the hooded vigilante appearing in front of him in a flash of black and slashes up at his face, the blade slices between his eyes angled to his left, "Why you…!" He swung his gun at him in hope of hitting him only to him to dodge back in a black flash before disappearing in a flash as well, black streaks slashes passed him as strike after strike hits onto him with lightning speed, impossible for Blanc to counter at all.

With an angry scrowl, he shifts his weapon into its tonfa form and tries slam its pike against the hero, he just re-directed the weapon's path with his own weapon and proceeds to rush towards him, jumped and kneed him in the face. Blanc growled as he switches his weapon back into compact mode and swung the briefcase at him, the hero leaped back via stepping onto his face again before tackling him out of the building, the man crashing back down to the streets.

As he got back up, he was greeted by many pistols aimed to his head, the Vale Police Department all armed and aimed at him, "Freeze! Don't move!" Blanc looked up to see the Vigilante looking down from the roof of another building. He then gave a wave before leaving, mirroring his own escape from that night.

"Damn that guy…" The mercenary groaned before shifting his weapon into a bazooka and fired under him, the explosion created a smokescreen blinding the officers and make his escape, "When I find out who is under that hood…"

He felt up his face wound as he scowled angrily, "Hell's going to pay for it!"

* * *

The Beacon students all hang near the crime scene, waiting for the last of them to be questioned by the police. Brock was asked to identify one of the dead men found on one of the floors, leaving only of them waiting for Ivy to finished getting questioned. Leaf was staring absently at the top floor, the scene of Ivy being hold by the neck still fresh in his mind. 'Siege…' He thought, 'Who is he to Ivy…? Why is she looking for him…?'

"Brock, how was it?" Lloyd asked when the teen exited the cordon as all of them turned to him, "Is it bad?"

"Y-Yeah." Brock stated shakily, "It is one of the employees. From what the others told me, they manages to live because they helped the White Fang smuggle away the weapons. Some were shot by the shoulder though."

"Blanc was the diversion." Akai stated, "They must have predicted Huntsmen and Huntresses would be there during the heist…"

"But then, how did they know about the stash?" Lloyd asked, "Brock stated that his manager did not tell anyone outside the employees about it, and he only told me so…"

"He did said that he was holding on to it for a friend but…" Brock said, "The logos on it are from the BAP's assembly line. We don't have a contract with them, so why…?"

"Stolen goods." Leaf concluded, "You have heard it all over the news, right? Several BAP weapon cellars have been found raided with most of the equipment stolen. Brock's boss' friend might have been holding on to it and the White Fang knows of this."

"What if it is the White Fang all along?" Akai pointed out, "Your boss probably isn't part of them, but his friend may be a supporter and is helping them stash the stolen goods until they can move it to a more secure location."

"You serious…?" Brock muttered in shock.

"Want to tell the police that?" Leaf asked.

"No." Lloyd stated, "We have no proof to support our claim. They would just waved it off as some dump kids trying to play detective. We should leave it to them. We're just by-standers to this, and we shouldn't get more involved than we are already. Let's just keep this idea between us for now."

"I agree." Akai nodded, the rest nodding in agreement, although Leaf more hesitantly.

Ivy finally exited the cordon looking down, the rest all crowded around her, "You okay?" Leaf asked worriedly.

"I'm fine." She stated with a shaky smile, "Just… a bit overwhelmed by what's going on…"

"…Is there something you're not telling us?" Akai asked, the Faunus girl flinched at that declaration, "Blanc mentioned that he saw you a couple nights ago. What were you doing then? I doubt you just wandered in unknowingly and came out alive. Blanc has a reputation of leaving no witnesses unharmed."

"I…I…"

"…Is it something to do with that Siege guy?" Leaf asked, she looked away guilty, "It is, isn't it? Who is he to you? Your friend? Father? Lover? Tell me, Ivy!"

"H-He… I-I…"

"Ivory, you better tell us the truth before I make you." Brock stated angrily, "One of my colleagues is dead because of him!"

"Brock calm down." Lloyd tells his teammate placing a hand on his shaking shoulder, "Directing anger towards her isn't going to change anything."

"…" Ivy looked down, keeping quiet with the boomerang user glaring angrily at her.

"Ivy." Leaf walked up and placed both his hands on her shoulders, "You have to tell us the truth, or otherwise we can't help you."

"Help me?" She growled as she pushed him away, "You think this is helping me?! Listen, Leaf Forrest, and everyone here. That man is none of your business! He is my problem, and mine alone! You want to help me? Stick your nose somewhere else."

"I won't!" Leaf shouted, "Ivy, I'm your partner and leader. I'm supposed to help my teammates with their problems as much as I could. Even if you won't want me to, I WILL stick into your business! Because whether you know it or not, you need help for this."

"…" Ivy looked away guilty, "I… Siege, he…"

"Siege, you're talking about that mask guy, right?" Brock asked, "The one in the trench coat?"

"He is…WAS my mentor, my foster parent if you want to call it." She added, "He is the one that taught me how to survive, how to hunt, how to fight, how to steal, how to kill. He is the father that I never knew I needed. But that changed. He gave me an order to kill him, which I disobeyed, and he was never the same. It was after I was caught by the police that Ozpin found me and gave me a second chance. To capture, or kill Siege."

"So you're looking for him, to end it?" Akai asked.

"I'm not too sure anymore." She stated, "I can't kill him, and I can't overpower him at all. He has this control over me that instinctively made me not want to hurt him. Have you been asked to kill your parents before?" The other students looked at each other, "That's what it felt like…"

"…No one should felt that." Leaf stated, "…No one…"

"This is why, Leaf, I want you to stay out of my business." Ivy stated, "As someone who have a complete family and life, as someone who never needed to kill to survive, as someone who doesn't have to shoulder a great burden, isn't going to help me in anyway."

"…I get that…" Leaf muttered, the girl looked away. He then placed his hand on her shoulder, "AS IF I'LL SAY THAT!" He shouted angrily, "Sure, I don't know what it is like to kill to survive, or to just barely able to survive. But that has nothing to do with wanting to help a friend! Asking me to stay out of your business? That's bullshit!"

"L-Leaf…"

"Ivy, listen here and listen well!" He added on, "I want to help you! This Siege man, if you can't do anything against me then leave it to me! I have no connection to him, or to the White Fang! As a standard normal guy, I will help you!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Okay, can you save the teen drama till after we go back to the dorms?" Akai asked, "I mean…" She pointed at the cordoned-off area, several police officers and plain-clothes detective all looked on with an amused look on their face.

Leaf immediately blushed before letting go of her shoulders, Ivy stepped back a little as her partner looked away bashfully, "A-Anyway, I'll lend you my aid, as much as you need. If you need the muscle, just let me know."

"…K." She muttered, still slightly stunned from his outburst.

Brock's scroll rang and he opened it up to read the message, "We better get back. Looks like Zi is getting worried over us." He stated.

"Yeah, it's getting late." Lloyd stated checking the time on his scroll, "Curfew is about to start in a couple of hours."

"Let's go." Akai stated as she starts walking towards the Bulldog's station, the rest of them starts following on. Leaf is about to walk before turning to face Ivy, gesturing a hand out to her, "Shall we go?" He asked with a smile.

"…Yeah." She nodded and took his hand, the two of them walking off together, "…I'm glad you're my partner…"

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

…

_To be continued…_

* * *

**Yeah! Let the shipping begin! So, is Leaf going to end up with his partner, or would he end up with someone else entirely?!**

**Sorry if the smut is a little… off… Smut isn't really my forte but the fighting and action stages, those are a real blast to do! The things I could do with RWBY's gun-everything type weaponry! That's one of the reason I started this fanfiction in the first place! This is a place for me to have some real fun!**

**One more thing:**

**RWBY Volume 3 coming 24 Oct 2015! All aboard the HYPE TRAIN! CHOO CHOO! The spirit of Monty Oum lives on!**

**Now then, I wanted to ask you people a random question but it has something to do with what I'm going to do with RAEM's and BLAZ's development. **

**Do you want any of the OCs to pair up with the canon groups?**

**I really wanted Akai and Raine to hook up, but more I thought about it, the more it felt really unmatched. From what I have written so far, it does seems that they are hooking up. But it feels unnatural to me.**

**So tell me what you think, and answer who do you want to pair up with who?**

**And no, there will be no harem in this fic. Maybe a triangle or even a pentagon, but no harem!**

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**


	13. Chapter 11

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

**Chapter 11 Spring Break**

* * *

Days have passed since the robbery. Ivy and Leaf has been together more often lately, the entirety of team LIGT have become a lot closer. When Ivy revealed her mission to the rest of her team, their reaction is just as expected. Gamma didn't really care that much, but reach out a hand for her to ask his help anytime; Torque didn't really get the big deal but he is glad to help out as much as he could.

"It's like being in a secret agent movie!" He stated.

When the robbery came out on the news, the entirety of Beacon burst alive with rumours and gossips all around. Brock, Lloyd, Akai, Leaf and Ivy are all became the center of attention of all the students from all years, becoming short term heroes. The entire fight was shown to all of Vale, the five students are now known to all for being one of the best huntsman in training in recent years.

But another thing that came out, is the appearance of the Hooded Vigilante. Despite only appearing near the end of the fight, he has gotten quite a scoop on the news. Why did he appear? What's his plan? Why didn't he finish the fight for them? Everyone has questions all over that may remain unanswered to them for, possibly forever.

Soon, however, their questions are pushed aside for the excitement of the coming days. Caused in just a couple days, spring break would officially start.

Every students has plans for that one week vacation they are receiving, to have fun and meet their families after being away from home for so long, and that of course including our main cast, team RWBY, JNPR, RAEM, LIGT and BLAZ. Right now, it is end of the school day and they all decided to hang out at a nearby smoothie shop in Vale to chat up before the end of the semester.

"Man, time sure flew by." Ruby stated slurping up her strawberry smoothie, "It felt like it was only yesterday that we entered Beacon."

"That sounds like what an old person would say." Weiss groaned, "But I agree, these couple of months sure passed by us quickly."

"Indeed, so many things has happened so fast." Blake stated, "Good and bad…"

"Initiation, attending Professor Port's classes, watched Raine owned CRDL with his bare hands, Blake running away…" Yang counted, "Not to mention the heroes' fight against robberies~ Man you guys sure knows how to end things on such a… _lightly_ _blazing_ note~"

Everyone groaned at the poor pun, only Leaf starts to laugh uncontrollably, "Nice, Yang! Very nice!" He laughed, fist-bumping with her.

Raine slurps up his own chocolate smoothie as he checked through his scroll, "So, anyone got any plans for the break?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well, me and Rubes are planning on visiting our dad." Yang stated.

"I'm not too sure what I'm going to do." Blake stated, "I guess I'll stay at the dorms for the break."

"You could stay at my place if you want." Ember stated, "It's just me, though. And it's in Mistral."

"Oh, what a coincidence." Pyrrha stated, "I was planning on visiting my parents there too. I wanted to tell them all about my days in Beacon. Want to go together?"

"Sure, why not?" The fox Faunus shrugged.

"Any plans, Leaf, Ivy?" Zi asked teasingly, "I'm sure Leaf's parents would love to meet their future daughter-in-law~"

"W-What?!" Ivy cried out blushing red, "W-We're not in that kind of relationship!"

"But you're going to be in one, right~?" She pressed on, "Come on, Leaf." The taller girl turned the Faunus to face her partner, "Look at how cute she is~ You sure you don't want to claim her before someone else do?"

"Well, if she want to stay at my house for the break, why not?" Leaf stated, stunning the two of them, Ivy especially, "I mean, she doesn't really have a place to stay besides the dorm, right?" Zi groaned tiredly and Ivy sighed.

"Me and Ren are going to visit our cousins!" Nora stated cheerfully, "It's going to fun!"

"It would be great to see them again." Ren said with a smile.

"What about you Weiss?" Ruby asked, "Any plans for the week ahead?"

"I'm heading back to Atlas." She stated, "Maybe to one of our vacation homes, relax at the spa…"

"Ah, right, I forgot, you're filthy rich…" The young leader said.

"I'll be heading home too." Moon stated, "I'm sure my father would wish to know about my days in Beacon as well." She then sighed tiredly, "This one week is going to be one heck of a week…"

"Oh yeah… you mentioned that your dad is rather… protective, I believe is the word?" Ember asked.

"Protective is just placing it kindly…" The archer sighed dejectedly, "The messages I have been receiving…"

"Tough, is it?" Weiss muttered, but her cousin heard it.

"Ah, sorry, Weiss…" She apologized.

"Don't be." The heiress stated.

The others all looked around worriedly.

"So… what about you, Akai?" Lloyd asked, hoping to stop the tension, "Any plans?"

"…I'll be heading back to Vacuo with Sun." She stated.

"Oh, the monkey boy, right?" Yang asked, before pressing on with a teasing smirk, "Okay, be real with me, are you two dating?"

Akai groaned, "No. He's the last person I would go, and I'm fairly confident I'm asexual." She stated firmly.

"I highly doubt that." The blonde stated with a smirk, "I've seen what happened at the docks that night."

"I was high-strung from missing teammates and leader." She stated while glaring at Raine, the teen still busy on his scroll.

"Well, Jaune… any plans?" Pyrrha asked, "You could come with me if you want. I have a secret training ground we could use."

"Nah, I'm good." The blonde knight sighed, "I better head home for now… I'm sure my parents would want a word with me… with all that happened…"

"Ah…" The Spartan nodded in understanding.

"Well, you better cancel those plans." Raine smirked as he hooked his arm over him, "You are coming with me this week! And I'm not taking no for an answer~!"

"For what?" Jaune asked worriedly, not liking the smirk on his face.

"For a training trip!" The leader of RAEM stated, "This whole week, we're going to make you work till you drop!"

"We?" He asked eye-brows raised, "Wait, what we? Who else is coming? Is it, Leaf?! Gamma?! Don't let it be Torque!"

"As much as I want Torque, that's not really a good idea." Raine stated, "He could destroy the entire area within a minute… And Gamma… well… let's just say that you'll be dead within a second he starts."

"That's good news…" The blonde knight sighed in relief, "Then…Who is coming?"

"Oh, just my old boss and his gang."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Sorry, I must have heard wrong…" Jaune muttered as he digs his ear a little with his pinky, "W-Who did you say is coming?"

"My old boss and his gang."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…You're not kidding, aren't you?" The blonde muttered.

"Nope." Raine stated shaking his head while keeping that smile of his, "You should be grateful. He is willing to spend the week training YOU. That's something."

"Boss?" Ruby wondered, "Oh yeah, you did mentioned you have worked with a freelance huntsman team once before."

"You called HIM?" Pyrrha asked worried, "Isn't he the last person you want training ANYONE?"

"If it's Jaune, HE is the best one to do so." Raine tells her.

"Do I need to remind you about his training methods?" She stated, "Jaune wouldn't last a single day, let alone a week!"

"He's THAT bad, huh…" Blake muttered.

"Okay, now I'm scared…" Jaune muttered worriedly, "Seriously, is his boss that bad?"

"You don't know the half of it…" The Spartan sighed, "And you managed to get him to do this, HOW?"

"Well, one…" Raine stated, "Actually, I just paid him. It was that easy."

"You PAID him?!" Pyrrha cried out in shock, "What did you do, sell a kidney?! How much did you paid him?!"

"Well, I have several jobs over the past semester." He explained with a smile, "I haven't slept in weeks!"

"Wait, then how are you not… I don't know, not you right now!" Jaune cried.

"Work?" Blake and Yang looked at each other confused, the rest of the gang all looked at one another with the same question in mind, which Moon asked for them, "What work?"

"Oh, nothing much." He stated, "It's nothing to be worried about."

"Not when you've not sleep for weeks." Yang stated firmly, "Though, if you haven't sleep at all, how are you so chirpy?"

"I skipped a whole day of school once, remember?" Raine pointed out, "And like Leaf stated once, Professor Port's lesson was the best time to take a good nap."

"Oh…" Everyone nodded in understanding.

"Still think that you should at least sleep properly." Yang added.

"…Is your… work related to those weapon plans you've drawn up all those nights?" Akai asked.

"Wait, you're awake then?" The swordsman asked in surprise, "…I was sure everyone was sleeping when I started…"

"So, do you sell those plans by any chance…?" Brock asked, "But even so, would people want to buy weapon plans from a teenager?"

"Not if you use an alias." Zi pointed out, "He could sold it on the internet under a fake name."

"Well, since everyone asked, might as well say it…" Raine muttered, "You know about that weapon designer, RAE, right?"

"Oh, that famous custom weapon creator, right?" Lloyd stated.

"Yeah, well…" Raine rubbed his neck nervously, "That RAE name is just a random three letters I typed…"

"…?"

"…RAE… is me."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted out, all looked at him in shock and amazement from Ruby.

"You! You of all people, is RAE?!" Weiss cried, "No wonder you know so much about Myrtenaster! …Oh my Oum… my weapon is made by an open pervert…"

"Hey! That's just wrong!" Raine shouted out, "I'm just a regular pervert!"

"That's not helping, Raine…" Akai sighed.

"So, Pyrrha's weapon is really made by you?" Jaune asked curiously, "Can you make me one too?"

"First of all, I don't make them, I designed them along with telling them the type of materials to use on which part." Raine stated, "Second, it doesn't come cheap. One plan is in a minimum at least several thousands Lien. I doubt you have that much cash, unless you do…?"

"…No, I'm afraid not…" Jaune sighed, before scooting closer to whisper to him, "But didn't you also design weapons for the Creed too? Do they pay you as well?"

"Quite well, actually." He stated, "But there hasn't been a new member since I recommended you, so I needed some more income…"

"Speaking of which, is my new weapon ready?"

"Just sent it to the HQ." Raine stated, "Now you need to wait."

"Oh…" Jaune then stepped back, "So, when are we leaving?" He asked, "I need to call my parents about this."

"The evening before the break officially starts." Raine explained, "They told me they have private bulldog read-"

"HE HAS A PRIVATE BULLDOG SHIP?!" Jaune cried out.

"…I'll explain more when we meet…"

* * *

The days soon passed and the eve of the week-long spring break has arrived. As soon as the last bell of the semester ended, students all flocked out of their classes, heading back to the dorms to pack up and spend their vacations as they please. As evening come to be, the school grounds are flooded by the many students that are readied to board the ships and leave the campus for the week.

The most of the gang has already board the first few ships, team LIGT and Brock already left ahead of time. Ren and Nora too left in a hurry, the hammer girl being one of the first people on the airship via pushing passed all of the people with her partner in tow. Pyrrha too left along with Ember and Blake. That leaves the rest of team RWBY, team RAEM as well as team BLAZ and Jaune.

"So, see you all in a week?" Ruby stated with her bag packed and hoisted on her back.

"Of course." Weiss nodded, "I hope you plan on catching up and your studies and not just play around all week."

"That's not the point of a vacation!" The young leader cried out.

"Although, I would be a good idea to study up on the subjects you are weak on." Lloyd stated, "I've heard that Oobleck is planning on giving surprise quizzes the day after the vacation ended."

"Geez, way to be pour water over our moods." Yang grumbled.

"It IS a good idea to study up during the week though." Zi stated.

"…I must be going now." Alter tells them as he walks towards the ships, "It's going to be a long ride to my village from here. See you all after the break."

"Me too." Lloyd added as he took off after him, "Bye!"

"See you later!" Ruby waved at them as they joined the queue to the ships.

"…This was the first time I've heard Alter spoke…" Yang muttered.

"All this time, I thought he was mute…" Jaune stated.

"He is the quiet one of the team, alright." Zi stated, "But he does speak. Just not as frequent."

The leader of RAEM took a look at his scroll, "We better go too." Raine tells Jaune, "They planning on meeting us at the port within an hour." He steadied his bag on his shoulder, "You ready?"

"Ready then I'll be at the moment…" Jaune muttered, "I REALLY am terrified now… The training isn't going to be… TOO harsh, is it?"

"There's no such thing as an easy training, Jaune." He stated while patting his shoulder encouragingly, "But don't worry. He wouldn't go TOO far. I'll try to make sure of that."

"Thanks… I guess…"

"Hope you are better the next time we see you, Jauny-boy." Yang stated with a chuckle, "You wouldn't want to RAINE on Pyrrha's hopes, right?"

"…Goddamn it, Yang…" Raine groaned as the blonde brawler's teammates sighed dejectedly at the stupid pun.

Moon then took notice of three approaching ships heading towards the campus. Two Atlesian airships she can see the logos of hers and her cousin's family's insignia, but one smaller ship that she could not recognise. It looks like a standard bullhead but slightly bigger and longer, it also have four flat turbines instead of the usual two jets, and it has a colour scheme of white and yellow.

"Hey, Weiss." Moon called out to her cousin, "Do you recognize that ship?"

The heiress looked at the foreign vessel, "…I…don't think so…" She stated confused, "And it seems altered as well…"

Raine then notices the ship flying towards them, before gawking at it, "…You serious…? Are you joking with me…?"

"What is it, Raine?" Yang asked and took notice of the ship, "Damn… that ship looks amazing! Whoever altered it have good taste."

"But it doesn't looked legal…" Zi stated, "…Hey… I think it just shot something towards us…"

Raine squinted his eyes and looked closely, "…Oh shit- EVERYONE HIT THE DECKS!" He shouted as he dragged his two cousins out of the way while everyone just ran to the sides, just as something impacted the ground hard, denting the concrete slightly and sending those who close to the impact flying. When they all got their bearings back, the figure that landed got up.

A tall man stood in the impact zone, tanned skin tone with long sliver hair that covers his ears just above his shoulders and sky-blue eyes wearing a black muscle shirt under a red vest with white pants that has belts tied around the ankles and brown leather boots, bandages bounded around his hands, "Alright, man!" He shouted out towards the ship with a thumbs up, "Nice aim as usual!"

"What the hell, Silver?!" Raine shouted out.

"Oh, hey Raine." The man smirked, "Didn't see you there!"

"Liar!" The teen shouted.

"Who… is that?" Jaune asked frozen in shock.

"I think he came from the ship…" Moon muttered.

"…" Akai has no words.

"What are you doing here?" Raine asked, "There's still like one hour till our meeting time! And he texted me to be at the PORT!"

"Yeah, but the boss-man changed his mind and decided to come pick you up." Silver stated with a smirk, "And I decided to greet you with a bang~!"

"Huh…"

At that moment the smaller ship slowly made it's descend and landed just at the edge of the campus grounds. The side doors opened and several people alighted down.

"We haven't contacted each other since the year started and you wanted our help in training a complete novice?" A woman huffed with her arms on her hips, she has long light green hair that she tied in a low twin tails with round dark green eyes, wearing a turquoise green long sleeved turtleneck sweater that reaches just above her stomach left opened with holes were the shoulders are and a single steel plate in front of her modest chest along with white tight pants and matching heeled boots that has steel heels and toes, four rings made apparent on her hands with a red and blue jewelled ones on her right and yellow and green on the left, "You really have some nerve, Raine."

"You're just hissy of not seeing your, quote-on-quote, 'little brother'." A man stated. He has black spiky quiff-styled hair and emerald eyes, wearing a red v-neck shirt under black trench coat that reaches to his knees with black jeans and red converse. On his back is massive doubled-edged broadsword of his height with notches near the tip of the blade with a golden hilt in a form a cross. Also at his sides, he kept holstered two M1911 styled handguns, one silver and one golden.

"It is true." Another, shorter, man stated, "Not that I saw him that way or anything." The man has short messy copper-brown hair with two different eye color, the right one is blue while the other is green, wearing a sleeveless copper-coloured vest with dark green military cargo pants tucked into a pair of steel-toed grey boots. His arms not human and mechanic in nature, the steel appendages reflecting the sun slightly.

"Come on now." Another woman stated as she walked up to the first one patting her on the shoulder, "She's not the only one that wants to meet him again." She has tanned skin with dark brown hair that reaches just passed her shoulders and bright violet eyes, wearing a bright blue cloth spandex suit, with padding around the joints, which she zipped down to show her incredible cleavage with black boots and black belt that has a steel buckle and leather shoulder pads. She also has red fingerless gloves that reaches passed her wrists but a few inches from her elbows that has two black metallic bands around her wrists.

"That's right, Copper." A younger petite woman stated as she patted the shorter male's back, "You too are rather eager to see him as well." She has platinum blue hair braided on the back that reaches to just below breasts with red eyes, wearing a white corset with black ribbons under a dark green jacket with blue pants tucked into a high-heel battle boots. On her back is a box-like object similar to that of Ruby's.

"Man, they sure looks like some rather unique characters…" Yang pointed out.

"Are… those…" Weiss muttered as she took notice of the rings, "…Dust crystal rings…?"

"Is that… mechanical arms…?" Ruby muttered as she slightly squeals in amazement, "I never thought it was possible!"

"There are ones… bigger than Akai and Yang…" Moon stuttered.

"…That's what you look at first…?" Zi asked.

"So… this is your part-time job at one time?" Jaune asked worried, "These are the huntsmen mercenaries that we'll be spending the week training with…?"

"Yeah." Raine nodded with a tired smile, "Don't worry about them, you'll get used to it…"

"…I highly doubt that I will…"

"Hey, Raine." The man in the coat greeted with a smile as he pat the back of said teen, "Been a while since we last met. How are you?"

"Fine, great even." Raine answered with a smirk, "I mean, I have the hottest girl I have ever seen as my partner~! Take that, Blaec!"

"Ha! As if that's an achievement." The man smirked as he ruffles the teen's hair, "Partner is just that, a partner."

Silver then joined the group as well before turning around with a smirk, "We are the mercenary group, Dark Wings. It's a pleasure to meet you all, students of Beacon."

"Dark… Wings…?" Moon looked at them with a blank stare.

"Man, Raine." Yang stated with a smirk, "You really _winged_ Jaune into this one!"

The collected groans from all the students echoed through the courtyard.

"Oh, nice one!" Silver said with a chuckle, "I like her!"

"Oh great, another Leaf…" Zi groaned.

"That's… kind of a weird name to call a mercenary group…" Akai stated with an eyebrow raised, "Well, I met one group that call themselves the Green Goat, so I'm not going to judge."

"So… who's the boss?" Jaune asked as he looked over them, pointing at Copper, "Is it you?"

"Negative." Copper stated monotone, "I-I mean… What are you talking about, stupid?!"

"Um…"

"He's always like that, you'll get used to it." Raine stated again matter-fact.

"That, would be me." A voice stated as a man walked out of the bullhead, "I'm the leader of Dark Wings." He has light-blonde spiky hair that goes passed his ears and lumen green eyes, wearing a red jacket with white rims over a white turtleneck sweater with a steel shoulder pad on his right shoulder, white pants with red chaps over it and black shoes. A trench knife-styled sword hang on his left, the red blade shaped like a large meat cleaver blade with what seems to be a pistol at the handle. There's also golden armour around his right arm but not his hand.

"You know, you should at least give me a message before arriving at the school." Raine tells him with a tired sigh, "At least I get to prepare for Silver's 'dramatic entrance'…"

"I thought you like surprises?" The man smirked.

"That depends." The teen stated before making a little perverted grin, "If Lia is shot at me, I wouldn't mind~"

The well-endowed woman giggled a little, "Oh, Raine you little perv~" She stated with a seductive smile while pushing up her rack with her arms, "You know, I could always popped your cherry if you want to~"

"Well… I could think about that~" He smirked.

"Raine!" Yang cried covering Ruby's ears, the younger girl looking at them confused, "Man… and I thought Raine and I were quite open with this…"

"She definitely doing it right, though." Zi stated, Moon and Weiss touching their little to no existence chest.

"…Fiend." Akai muttered.

"Oh right, forgot to introduce you." Raine stated before facing them, "As you know, they are the Dark Wings, the mercenary group that I worked part time during my time in Sanctum. You know Silver Hercales, the man with silver hair."

"Sup."

"And this is Medea Iodeis, the woman with the rings."

"I'm pleased to meet you all."

"The guy with the large sword is Blaec Redgrave."

"I'm available if you want, ladies~"

"The one with the robot arms is Copper Zwolf."

"Don't try and talk to me, morons."

"The lady with the big rack is Io Bluehood."

"Nice to meet you~"

"The short girl is Artemis Greenheart."

"How's it going?"

"And their leader, Jason Sol."

"Pleasure to meet you all fine Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training." Jason stated with a smile, before looking around curiously, "Where's Pyrrha? She did enrol into Beacon with you, right?"

"She went ahead of me." He tells the leader, "She says hello, by the way."

"I see." He sighed a little, "That's a shame. I really wanted to tease her a little before the trip starts."

"As usual…" Raine sighed.

"So, this is your team?" The man asked looking over at the current members, "…I feel like I'm looking at a potential of a good anime gone wrong…"

"No, the rest are on different teams." The teen tells him, "The one in the kimono and the big breasted sniper is from mine. We also have a Faunus explosive dude but he left already."

"Did he just call Ember a Faunus explosive dude…?" Ruby asked.

"He's not completely wrong, though…" Moon muttered.

Akai retorted with a shot to Raine's head, who dodged it at the very last minute, "Again, Akai?!"

"Tch, missed again…"

"You definitely have a unique team." Silver chuckles, "And with two beauties as well. One for each preference~"

"So, who is the one that you wanted us to help train?" Artemis asked curiously, "It isn't every day that you wanted our help in training a fellow huntsman."

Raine pointed at Jaune, the blonde knight chuckled nervously waving his hand in a slight greeting. Artemis circled the blonde for a while, examining his entire body, poking his sides from time to time before raising an eyebrow at him. She then poke her finger between his eyebrows for a moment, before turning to Raine with a disappointed look on her face.

"So?" He asked.

"…You are joking, right?" She stated before sighing tiredly, "Now I see why you wanted our help."

"Yeah." He nodded, "He needs all the help he can get."

"Isn't Nikos using a similar weapon to his?" She asked, "Why not ask her?"

"She did help to get him this far."

"…Oh Monty…"

"He's that bad, huh?" Blaec stated with a pained expression on his face.

"Come on now, Jaune isn't THAT bad." Ruby stated with a laugh, "…Right…?"

"We have seen bad, young girl." Io stated, "And he IS the bad."

"True to that." Zi added.

"…Oh…" Jaune whimpered dejectedly.

"But not unsalvageable." Jason stated, the blonde knight pepping back up, "Everyone has to start somewhere. You're just a little late to the Huntsmen party. With my help, you can become a great Huntsman someday."

"You… You really think so…?"

"Well, if Ozie let YOU into Beacon, then you must have something that caught his attention." The merc leader stated, "What's your name, boy?"

"J-Jaune! Jaune Arc, eh… sir…" The blonde stated out loud.

"Arc…" Jason mumbled to himself, "That would explain…"

"I-Is something the matter?"

"Oh, no, nothing at all." He stated with a smile, before looking down at Jaune's sheathe/shield, "…Bring your shield up."

"S-Sorry?"

"Shields up, boy." Jason stated as he held his weapon on his left hand, cocking the pistol part with his right, "I'm planning to test you when we left, but…"

"W-Whoa, whoa!" Jaune cried out as he took several steps back, "I-I…"

"You better do what he says, Jauney boy." Medea tells him, "You caught Jason's attention, and that's not necessary a good thing."

"…" Jaune chuckled nervously as he swallowed his saliva audibly. He proceeds to pulls out his sword and extends out his shield, ready to take what is going to be thrown at him. The rest of them all stepped away from the two of them, slightly worried about what's going to happen.

Jason smirked as jerks his weapon, the blade part around the handle juts up and out in front of the barrel's opening, the bottom blade expands out slightly with gaps between the now moved plates around the weapon. He pressed the trigger a few times, several shots are heard but no bullets are fired. Instead, the blade starts to glow a slightly red as the weapon roared to life. Jaune braced himself as Jason leaped forward, the ground cracked at the force of the dash before he swung down at the shield hard.

A loud clang resonated throughout the entire courtyard, followed by the burst of wind that blew out from the impact area and nearly uprooted some of the trees around as their leaves rustled wildly from the impact. Everyone tried to keep their footing and not fly off as they waited for the burst of gusts to stop.

As the wind slowly stopped, Jason was seen with his weapon, steam rising up from it from the sheer power of the attack. Jaune, surprisingly is able to keep his footing down for once, although he was pushed considering back from the attack of at least several meters, his shield completely unharmed.

"Whoa." Yang stated, "THAT's something."

"What you lack in skill, you make up with endurance." Jason stated with a smirk, "Well done. You are using that shield quite well."

"T-Thanks, I guess…?" Jaune stated as he retracted the shield, feeling his sore arm.

"That was quite a block, boy." Silver says with a smile, "Even with a shield that durable, I'm surprised you manages to keep your foot down and not flew off."

"That's quite amazing of you." Copper stated before huffing to the side, "Not that I would praise you or anything."

"Copper…don't ever change." Artemis giggled.

"Good job, Jaune!" Raine stated wrapping his arm around him in a one-sided hug, "You manages to get their approval! That's not easy, you know!"

"But like I said before." Medea stated with a smirk, "That's not necessary a good thing."

"Is it really that bad…?" Jaune muttered.

"I agree with Medea on this one." Io stated with a grim smile, "I'll let you know now. Jason's training regime isn't easy. He will work you till you wish you weren't born to this generation. He'll break you down, build you back up, break you again, glue you back together and then make sure you are, LIVING, THROUGH, HELL!"

"Um…"

"Other than that, you'll be fine!" She stated with a carefree smile.

"Don't worry about that." Raine tells his friend, "She does that a lot."

"But his training regime is tough." Blaec tells them.

"That's true." Artemis stated, "I can count with one hand how many people could even withstand that regime and not quit halfway."

"That's… reassuring…" Jaune groaned.

"Glad to be of help!" She smiled.

"Come on, let's go!" Io stated with a smile, "We still need to reach there before nightfall."

"Coming!" Raine called out, "Jaune, you ready?"

"Um… I guess…?" He muttered.

"That's the spirit!" Jason laughed as he pats Jaune on the back hard, "Come on now, we have a lot of work ahead of us!" He stated as he took a step forward, only to find himself slowly ascending up into the air, "What the- hey!" He starts struggling around in the air as the one responsible stomped up to them with an angry scowl.

"Jason Sol!" Glynda shouted angrily, "What is the meaning of that explosion just now?! Do you wish to blow everyone off the cliff?!"

"Hey, Glynda~ How's it going~?" Jason stated with a wink, "Still the ever serious woman, huh? Haven't found a boyfriend yet?"

"My love-life has nothing to do with the problem at hand!" She added, he rolled his eyes in annoyance, "As an allumi of Beacon Academy and one of the top graduates of your batch, you should know when is the time-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He stated with a lazy-smirk, "Can you at least put me down?"

With a flick of her horse-whip, Jason dropped on his feet and dusts off his clothes, "I see you kept the seductive librarian look. It suits you." He smirked.

"…" She surveyed the entire Dark Wings group, Raine and the rest, before letting out a strained sigh, "…look, just… do what you came here to do and leave. And no more funny business, please. The last thing we need is… I don't even want to think about it…"

"Fine, fine, got it, dominatrix." He sighed waving his hand dismissively.

"That's what I call her!" Raine pointed out laughing, only to get a rubble to the face by her.

"Let's go guys!" Jason called out, "Next stop, the Bronze Plains!"

"Yeah!"

"See you all in a week!" Raine calls out with a thumbs up as he ran towards the Bullhead, Jaune hesitantly following.

"Bye!" Ruby waved as the ship starts to take it leave.

"My ride is here." Weiss stated walking towards her family vessel, "You better work hard during this week, Ruby!"

"See you all at the start of the semester!" Moon called out as she ran towards her family's vessel.

"Come on, we have a ship to catch." Yang tells her sister as they took off towards the ships, Zi walking after them in her own slow pace.

With that, the Spring Break for the Beacon Academy official begins.

* * *

…

_To be continued…_

**There! Done! Finally! I've been planning this vacation chapter for quite a while. I've planned out most of the thing before Volume 2, as well as individual arcs for some of the main cast members.**

**Now, Dark Wings. It was an idea I have been planning since I wrote like around… chapter 3, I think…? Anyway, I wanted to show that Raine didn't get as good as he is just on his own. He has help. The Dark Wings themselves is a bit tricky when I was planning their individual members.**

**I wanted to base them off a certain legends of a certain region but not sure which one. So, I settle with one of the more common, at least to me, myths and legends out there. The Greeks! Plus, it make sense, with Pyrrha being based off on Achilles.**

**So, I came with an idea of Jason and the Argonauts, with several other greek heroes in there.**

**The only two OCs I didn't come up with is Copper Zwolf and Blaec Redgrave.**

**These two were ones from the OCs that were sent to me for BLAZ and LIGT and didn't made it. These two are a few that really caught my eye and decided to add them in as adults rather than teenagers considering their personalities.**

**Copper Zwolf is by **reven228  
**Blaec Redgrave is by **Nahliel Michelangelo Sparda

**Thanks for the OCs, sorry they didn't made it for the teams but I decided to add them into my story.**

**And now, what I wanted to talk about. VOLUME 3 ROCKS! Didn't expect Cinder to have a different wardrobe, but completely blown away by Neo in goth! That shit is amazing! But damn you Rooster Teeth, show Tai Yang already!**

**Overall, the first episode was a great introduction to the Vytal Festival in a whole, and the World of Remnant episode about it coming out a few days before the actual episode is amazing. If you are wondering about the Vytal Festival meanings, go check that out. You can say it is **_**vytal**_** information~**

…**Yeah, the puns, I'm doing them.**

**Although, I'm pretty surprised by the fact that Ren's voice, Monty's younger brother [can't remember the name] is doing quite an amazing job filling his role.**

**And lastly, still waiting for Qrow and Winter to come out!**

**With that volume out, I have a pretty good idea on how to plan up to the current volume as it is now.**

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**


	14. Chapter 12

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

**Chapter 12 Nebula**

* * *

In the world of Remnant, it isn't rare to find villages scattered outside of the kingdoms' walls. The four Kingdoms has expanded only so much since the end of the Great War, and there are still nomadic tribes wandering around, if only a handful of them. These villages are either nomadic, or are specific outposts created by the Huntsman Association to help resupply any expedition into the still undiscovered lands of the Grimm infested wildlands.

Outposts, however, aren't impervious to Grimm attacks like the Kingdoms are. In fact, there are times the outposts are completely overrun by the creature of Grimm. As such, Huntsmen and Huntresses are often deployed to there to either take care of the problem before it got overrun or the reclaim fallen outpost.

That is the mission that team NEBL is deployed to at this moment, to help remove the Grimm threat from one such outpost.

The ship that deployed to them slowly descends down onto the ground. They are in the rocky plains the south of Atlas, where the major outpost in the border between Atlas and Vale is located. As the large personal war airship lands at the port, the team alighted the ship armed and ready.

Nexus and Eve walking forward to talk to the head of the outpost team as the rest of their team talk with the mechanics and engineers about the ship and resupplying for the return trip. "Nexus, sir!" The commander stated with a smile, wearing the standard beige military uniform of Vale with black military vest, "We've been expecting you. To think that a grand member of THE Hunter clan is assisting us in this is an honour!"

"No, it's fine." Nexus tells him with a smile, "What is the situation now, commander?"

"The Grimm attacks has been escalating quite recently in the area." He stated, "With the Vytal Festival coming up, General Ironwood has been deploying Atlesian military around the outpost. It has placed quite unrest among my men."

"And with it attracted the Grimm like bear to honey…" Eve stated.

"Even so, with the military might of a battalion of Atlas finest troops, the Grimm should have been no trouble." Nexus stated thoughtfully, "Is the Grimm really that bad?"

"It is." The commander explained, "The hordes of them kept on coming over and over and over with no end for the past week, and there were sightings from our towers that a Goliath may be near."

"A Goliath?!" Eve cried.

"Nexus, the ship is secured, the supplies for the place has been safely unloaded and they are filling up the tank." Leona stated as he walked up to them. Leona is a tall teen, an inch taller than Nexus having dark brown short military-style hair with dark skin and grey eyes, wearing a grey sleeveless turtleneck-style spandex shirt with red pants tucked into brown combat boots, "And what was that about a Goliath? Don't tell me we have to-"

"Unfortunately, we might…" Nexus sighed.

"You serious?! Oh man… I just finished repairing the Juggernaut!" He groaned.

"We have to fight a Goliath again?!" Bliz leaped out from behind him in shock. She has golden locks in a long braid tail on the back of her head with black eyes, she wearing a white sleeveless blazer with bronze buttons left opened to show her modest bust under a black tube-shirt with beige tight jeans with black leather shoes and yellow bandana tied around her forehead. On her back houses a golden browning automatic rifle with a glaive-style blade coming from the hand guard and a two small doors in the butt of the stock.

"Yeah." Eve stated before sighing slightly, "And we just defeated a Draco too…"

Bliz groaned dejectedly, "Come on now… it was a real pain trying to fight the Draco…"

"Look on the bright side, a Goliath is WAY easier to fight with." Nexus stated with a shrug.

"But a lot of work!" She groaned out waving her hands around, "You should know how tough one can be!"

"And I still haven't finish Titan, yet…" Leona sighed.

"Juggernaut is strong enough, Leona." Nexus sighed at him, "Anyway, commander." The man looking at the team interaction with a slightly amused and confused expression, "We should be able to take down the next wave, but we are going to need cover fire from both the Vale forces and the Atlesian soldiers."

"We could do that, but General Ironwood is the one in charge of their faction." The commander explained, "You are going to need to talk to him for this. In the meantime, I'll try and deploy as much abled-men on the defences as I can."

"Thank you, commander." He stated as he bowed politely before turning to his team with the commander leaving to go talk to the troops, "Okay, we're going to head to the Atlas side of the camp and ask for Ironwood's help."

"That general?" Leona asked with Bliz groaning.

"I know you don't really like him Bliz, but we need all the help we can get." Their leader added on, "With hordes of Grimm and a possibility of a Goliath approaching, a cover fire for us is our best option for us take them down."

"That's true…" Bliz grumbled, "…Fine, whatever, let's get his help…"

Eve patted her friend on the back in hope of comforting her as she sighed tiredly, Nexus and Leona shrugged their shoulders at each other with an eyebrow raised. As they made their way out of the docking area, they take a good look at the outpost they are protecting.

* * *

The outpost, named Bifrost, has the outlook of a militarised town if that is the proper term. While soldiers are abundant and walking about in full uniform, there are many civilians living out here too. The housings and shops are mostly wooden in structure with a few stand out concrete buildings that usually are weapon shops or military own storehouses, all covering the snow from the cold weather Atlas is well-known for. Bifrost is meant to be one of the two border towns between Atlas and Vale, split into two areas from each respective kingdoms. All immigration between the two kingdoms has to passed through here or face the authorities from either side.

Right now, the team is heading into the Atlas area of the camp, separated via a steel fence right where the border would be. They manages to get passed the security gate, thanks to the passport they always brought along for such occasion, and made it to the concrete building of the main military office of Atlas.

Nexus walked up to the main security officer, after exchanging a few words he went back to his team, "It seems that General Ironwood isn't in right now." He stated.

"Oh, too bad, he's not here." Bliz said before turning around, "Whelp, that all we could do, let's go! We need to prepare for the hor-OW!" She was stopped by a pull on the collar of her blazer via Eve.

"Buuuuutttttt, the security guard stated that he should be around nearby testing out a new equipment in development." Her leader added.

"New equipment…" Leona muttered thinking for a while, "…I did hear some rumours floating around the weapon-development circles about something the Atlesian military has been developing over the years but was never heard about yet."

"Then it's probably in a big open area." Eve added as Bliz struggles to get out of her grasp, "Deserted and cordoned off from the rest of the outpost."

"Who cares?! Leave him be!" Bliz shouted angrily, "He's probably too busy with that weapon to bother with us anyway!"

"You know, I still never get why you disliked Ironwood this much." Leona pointed out.

"Militarist men and I never go well together!" She stated as she finally broke out of Eve's grasp, straightening her blazer vest, "And Ironwood is the very definition of the things I hate in one man."

"He does have that flair in him that screams out Military Stereotype…" Eve stated.

"Even so, we need his permission if we're going to get back-up from the Atlesian forces." Nexus stated, "Let's head to the outer walls. With the snowy peaks surrounding the area, there is no shortage of places for him to be in."

"This… is going to take a while…" Leona groaned slightly as he took out his scroll, "I'll have the Mark 4 on stand-by."

"Let's split up for now." Nexus stated, "If you spotted any Grimm hordes heading towards the outpost or to your position, give us a call. We'll try to reach there as fast as we could."

"Same to you." Bliz stated as the four of them walked off with their respective partners.

* * *

Leona and Bliz take a look at the snowy plains north of the outpost, the cold wind blew on them as their steps on the cold snow on the ground scrunched under their feet, "S-So… C-Cold…" Leona stuttered as he wrapped his arms around himself shivering, "G-Got to hand it to A-Atlas… i-it's pretty m-much winter a-all year r-round…"

"The kingdom of Atlas is pretty up north on the map, after all…"

"…I-It doesn't look like t-there's anything t-that might l-looks like a w-weapon is out h-here." Her partner added.

"Yeah."

"W-Why aren't y-you s-shiver-ring…?"

"I was born in a village in Atlas, remember?" Bliz pointed out, "Not to mention I have fire dust woven into the underside of my jacket. Toasty warm~" She snuggled in her jacket for a moment, before noticing something in the distance. "Hey, Leona…" She pointed out for her partner, he turning to look at where she is looking, a large flock of black and white spots coming towards them in blinding speeds.

The creatures of Grimm.

"This isn't good!" Leona stated as he quickly dialled on his scroll, "…Come on, come on; pick up!"

"…_Leona?"_

"Nexus! Grimm! North!"

"_Got it! We'll get the forces we have to guard that side. Be on the lookout for a goliath!"_

"Roget that!" Leona hanged up the phone before dialling a separate tone, "Bliz, I need a minute to deploy, think you can-"

"On it!" Bliz stated putting on her blazer and drawing out her glaive-rifle, the bottom part of the butt-stock opened and with a heavy swing, shoots out a steel ball and sends it flying into the horde. A moment later the entire horde is bombarded by a large explosion the completely obliterated a good chunk of them. She then pointed her rifle at them and let loose a series of bullets, the dust rounds tearing through the hordes like nothing. But she knew it wasn't enough to slow them much, there is too many of them at once.

At this point in time, a steel-grey pod flew towards them, several appendages extends out from within before opening up. Leona opened up his arms in preparation, as the pod docked onto his arms, the small parts maneuverer about his body forming into a full-body robotic suit of armour, the grey helmet extends out and form around his face with a single green visor for him to see and black mouth piece covering his mouth. "Let's dance." He stated before his hands glowed in a blue light before he fired a large beam of light out of his palms that cuts through half of them within the moment. He then leaped forward, punching the first Beowolf completely obliterating it before landing a series of punches laced with blue energy that destroys most of the dark beings that stood in front of him.

Bliz decided to join in and leaped into the affray, swinging her glaive-rifle around cutting down any Grimm that got close to her. The two of them took down as much Grimm as they could, managing to somewhat dent the large horde of dark beings that threatens to swamp the outpost. The female partner of the duo switches into a personal style of hers for large groups, which consists of swinging her glaive around while her LMG is in full-auto mode, sweeping massive amount of dust rounds all over the battlefield and killing most of the Grimm near her range.

"Bliz, move!" Leona's armor's shoulder pads opened up at the back revealing boosters that releases a burst of wind which he used to absorb the recoil of a large blast which he fired using both his hands, the snowy ground cracked slightly under his feet as the blue light blasts right through the middle of the horde, completely eliminating the whole horde of Grimm. "It looks like we're taking care of them." He stated as his visor rolled up to onto his head, his mouth mask split into two resting by the side of his jaw, "Looks like the back-up is pointless."

"Um… Leona…" Bliz stated pointing into the distance yet again, this time showing something even more terrifying. Leona took a glance and his jaw is wide open in the pure horror that they are about to face.

"…They did say sighting of a Goliath…" He stated.

In the distance, although slow moving, are a pack of massive black mammoths the size of a ten story building, a pack of Goliath stomping their way towards them. The ground shook slightly as they move ever so closer towards the outpost, the two Huntsman and Huntress look at each other with a blank face, before turning their attention to the pack of the largest Grimm in current existence.

"…So, back-up?"

"Back-up."

Leona immediately turn on his visor headset's communication and dial up his leader's number, "Pick up, pick up…"

"_Leona? Is everything oka-"_

"PACK OF GOLIATH! BIG! SCARY-LOOKING! BACK-UP, NOW!"

"…_On it."_

"HURRY!"

At this point, the Goliath is practically standing just a couple of feet from them, staring down at the two warriors who are straining their neck looking up at the gargantuan beast. Bliz waved to it nervously, before they decided to book it and ran off in a cloud of smoke.

"When they said there's a Goliath, this isn't what I had in mind!" Bliz cried out.

"No kidding!" Leona cried out, "I don't think Juggernaut is going to fit this! I might need to bring out Titan!"

"That's going to take hours to get here!" His partner cried out, "We have barely one! Besides, isn't that armour incomplete or something?!"

At this point, large cannon fire was heard, the pack of beasts getting bombarded by a series of large dust cannon rounds as the two manages to get to the gates. There stood the other two of their team and Nexus walked up to them with a worried look on his face, "Are you guys, alright?"

"We…*pant*We took out…*pant*the horde…" Bliz panted.

"But then they show up…" Leona groaned.

"Men, fire all available cannons we have!" The commander shouted as the army fired their rows of huge cannon, bombarding the large beasts with as much Dust rounds as they can muster. Both Vale and Atlesian military all fired their respective artillery weapons with as much force as they could, but the pack is hardly stopping in its tracks.

"We need to take them down." Eve stated, "The cannon fire isn't do as much damage as we hope."

"With a Grimm that huge, we need a railgun." Leona stated while fiddling with his scroll, "I'll call forth Titan. It might take some time but…"

"Then call forth Juggernaut first." Nexus stated as he removes his long sword from his back, "Team, we're heading in. Leona, once Juggernaut come in, you are at point. Fire everything you got at one of the Goliath. We'll take down one at a time, that's our best move."

"Already done." He stated as a mechanical crate lands behind them, before opening itself up into a large hulking armour the size of a two-story building.

"Bliz, how many magazines you have left?"

"Seven, a hundred rounds at least." She explained as she ejected the empty magazine and slot in a new one, "Five with incendiary rounds, and fifteen flame Dust grenades."

"Try to conserve as much as you could." Nexus tells her, "So no trigger happy this time."

"Okay~"

"Eve, is Eva awake?"

"No, still asleep." Eve stated as she took out her rifle and cocking it via spinning the lever with a flick of her wrist, "Do you want me to wake her?"

"If the time comes." He stated as he cocked the hammer of his revolver sword, the cylinder turning slightly and he pull the trigger, a gunshot is heard and the blade glows bright red, "Alright, Eve and Bliz, support fire for us. Leona, we are going to close. Let's go, team!"

"Aye, aye!" The three of them nodded, Leona stepping into the larger robotic suit as it close around him; the silver and black armour stood up with its dome shaped helmet and its blue visor shining with recognition. The four of them charges out from their spot, being supported by the cannon fire as they races towards the closest Goliath.

Leona charges forward and leaped up, his armour's fist raised and hit the Goliath with a hit to the head, stopping the elephant completely. The cannon fire hits the beast as well, knocking it back slightly. Bliz toss another grenade from her buttstock towards the Goliath's eye, exploding in the eye socket hard causing it to scream out in pain. Eve aimed up at it, firing her rifle-cleaver's explosive rounds that exploded and destroyed one of the tusks. Nexus then charges forward, pulls the trigger again and the blade glow brighter with two more shots as he jumped up, with a shout and slashes down at the beast, a fire strike that cleaves through the beast.

"Next!" Nexus shouted as he landed behind the dead Grimm, firing two more shots before swinging down, a fire crescent slashes down at the Goliath, who just swings its trunk that sends the blast away with ease, before Leona grabbed onto the trunk and swings it down, lifting the elephant off its feet. Eve cocked her lever rifle and fired another round, this one hitting straight at the skull of the beast, completely decimating its head, killing it instantly.

"Five more to go!" Eve shouted, Bliz tossed another grenade via her buttstock ammunition that exploded at another Goliath's face, the Juggernaut armour's right elbow ejected a large cannon sized cartridge casing as it punches forward with a cannon fire heard that exploded in its arm, punches through the stomach of the elephant, knocking it up into the air from the impact. Its arm then morphed into a large rail-gun, firing an energized rock that hits the elephant through the head.

Eve then ejects out a bullet casing before firing another round at the other Goliath, blasting through the side of its face, before cocking again and firing at the other side. She cocked again, the rifle now empty as its magazine ejected out and she pulls out another one from under her top where she tied a belt of magazines under her breasts, loaded it up before cocking it and firing right through its head, killing it with ease.

Nexus, done reloading the revolver part of his sword, dashes forward and slashes hard at the Goliath, slicing through its tight hide leaving a large burning gash on its back. He then ready his robotic arm as the other Goliath behind it raised its trunk to hit him, an explosion was heard from his arm's elbow as his fist rocketed down and slams the appendage down on the ground hard. The recoil of the strike sends him into a mid-air somersault which he uses the momentum to swing down his sword while pulling the trigger, the blade glow red and the flaming blade completely splitting it right through.

"Last two!" Nexus shouted, a bullet casing ejecting out of his robotic arm, "Go, Lion Blizzard!"

Leona and Bliz nodded in understanding, the girl jumping onto her partner's armor hand who then ejected out a bullet casing from it as well before and explosion is heard that sends Bliz flying over, she swinging out her butt stock at the giant mammoth, tossing several grenades at its face. They exploded in its face, it screeching out in pain just as Bliz stabbed her glaive on its neck, and then she ran down its back all the while firing on full auto, the bullets piercing through the back as her spear slices through the spine till the tail which she then leaped off, which was followed up by Leona leaping up into the sky, his robotic suit glows bright at its joints before two boosters appeared out from its elbow which rockets its fist into the gash which his partner has left, before a cannon fire is heard and its split in half from where the gash is.

"Time to end it!" Their leader shouted as he cocked his sword, "Eve! Azurite Evolution!"

Eve nodded as she and her partner rushed forward, Nexus starts emitting some kind of blue energy from his body as it slowly took shape into some kind of humanoid figure, it possessed a fierce looking face with what seems like a golden ethic armour, its bottom half not visible but seems to be emitting from Nexus himself. His eyes too glowed in a bright blue light, his right arm glowing around its joints and the gaps between the armour parts. Eve's weapon then glowed bright, the cleaver blade split opened under the barrel as a large purple energy blade emerged from it. As the last Goliath stomps its way towards them, Nexus switches his sword onto his left robotic hand as he and his partner spun and swung upwards with him pulling his trigger, the force behind the strike created a combo of two sword waves that slices through it twice, the giant Grimm dropping onto its knees as several parts of it falling towards them with great force.

"Shit, run!" Leona cried out as he and the rest of Team NEBL took to a run, Nexus's aura state dissipating as he ran behind his team, the parts of the Grimm dropped down and landed just a few feet outside of the outpost's walls. The team of huntsmen all sighed in relief as they tries to catch their breaths, except for Leona who just stepped out of his robotic armor.

"Looks like we got away in time." He stated as he saw the parts slowly dissipates into shadows.

"You know…" Nexus panted, "…Times like this… *pant* I wish I have one of your armours as my own…"

"You have great stamina anyway." The armoured huntsman pointed at the two female members both sitting down by the walls gasping for air, "Unlike some people."

"I don't…" Bliz panted, "Need to… run that much… with my… weapon…"

"Same…" Eve panted, "…Same… here…"

Leona shrugged his shoulders, "Anyway, looks like we manages to end one wave for now…"

"But why is there so much Grimm heading towards here?" Bliz asked, "This isn't first time I've seen that much, but for it to aim an outpost of all things."

"Grimm are attracted to negative emotions, I believe…" Eve stated thinking about it a bit, "And there has been a rather tense atmosphere around here."

"By the way, how do you get both Atlas and Vale to deploy their cannons?" Leona asked his leader, "Aren't both sides are pretty much at each other's throats?"

"All I did was tell them there is a horde of Grimm coming their way and they deploy." Nexus explained.

"I guess they definitely knows their priorities." Bliz stated, "Still… we can't just leave the situation as it is."

"By the way, did you ever found Ironwood?" Leona asked, "We sure didn't."

"Well, no." Eve sighed, "We even checked near the borders but he isn't there."

"Maybe he left and went home?" Bliz stated hopefully.

"We haven't check the Vale side yet." Nexus pointed out.

"Can't we just leave it at that?" She asked, "I mean, we did what we came here for, right?"

"We can't just leave, not yet." Eve stated, "Unless we resolve the tension between the two nations' military, the hordes of Grimm will keep coming. And it might attract Grimm even bigger than that pack of Goliath we have faced."

"How can we do that?" Leona asked.

"This started when Ironwood brought almost the entire military might of Atlas to near the borders." Nexus stated, "Maybe if we can get him to send back at least half of the total force, it might ease their worries even slightly."

"But why did he bring so much troops in the first place?" Bliz wonders, "Unless… he's preparing for a war…?"

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Eve sighed, "And with the Vytal Festival coming up, it wouldn't be pretty…"

"Anyway, we better find Ironwood as soon as we can." Leona pointed out.

"Mr. Nexus, sir!" An Atlas soldier walked up to them and saluted to their leader, "I bring a message from General Ironwood!"

"…" The team all looked at each other with a curious look, "Well then, let's hear it."

"Ironwood expressed his greatest apologies for keeping you waiting, and wanted you at the Atlas main office!" He shouted out, much to the grimace of their ears.

"…Dude, you don't have to shout, we're right here." Leona stated rubbing his ears.

"Sorry, Atlas military protocol dictates that we need to address all higher ranking officers with firm and clear respect!"

"You can just say it instead of shouting!" Bliz cried.

"Let's just meet Ironwood first, shall we?" Nexus sighed tiredly.

* * *

They made it back to the main office, the soldiers saluted them as they walked passed them. As they entered the building, they are greeted by a row of the new-looking droids in white metal standing in attention with their rifle armed and ready. Bliz rubbed her neck nervously, turning to her partner for comfort who patted her shoulder lightly.

"Team NEBL." A firm voice spoke as a lone man walked down the corridor between the drones, he wearing white overcoat over a grey undercoat and red tie, white pants and black boots. His black hair trim and tidy with signs of greying on the sides, and white appears to be a metal strap above his right eyebrow.

"General Ironwood." Nexus greeted with a slight bow, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Same here." He nodded with a courteous smile, "I've been wanting to see the champion of the last Vytal Festival myself." He then stood up straight, glancing at Bliz, who looked away nervously, "Now then, I've heard you have been looking for me?"

"For the whole damn day!" Leona shouted angrily, "It was like forty degrees out there!"

"Leona! He's a general!" Eve whispered harshly.

"It's okay, I'm sorry to have cause you so much trouble." Ironwood nodded before sighing slightly, "We were just finishing up testing out the new drones and I was carried away with watching the final tests that I've lost track of time."

"Huh, kind of like Raine, actually…" Nexus muttered, getting a curious glance from the general, "My younger brother."

"I… see…" He nodded, "Why don't we head to my office and we'll talk there?"

* * *

"Now then, what is it that you wanted to ask me about?" The general asked, he and team NEBL is now in a big room with shelves on the sides and a large window looking out to the Vale side of Bifrost. Ironwood and Nexus is sitting down on two parallel couches with the rest of his team standing or leaning on the couch behind him.

"Could you please withdraw some of your troops from this outpost?" Eve explained, "The presence of your enormous fleet and heavily armed infantry is creating a lot of tension between the two kingdoms."

"And that tension is drawing a large hordes of Grimms towards this place." Bliz pointed out, "Kind of think of it, where were you when the horde attacked? I don't see you with your men. Too busy with your toys that you forgotten your duties?"

"Bliz!" Eve hissed.

"I'm just stating out I've observed, nothing more." Bliz stated, "I have no ill-intent towards you, general."

"I understand your anger, and I can explain." Ironwood stated, "If you must know, the area where the drones are being tested is in far off the outpost in the tundra northeast of here. We didn't get word until after the horde attacked and you people defended it off."

"People? You can at least say team, you know." Leona stated.

"Anyway, do you think you can move some of your troops back to the capital at least?" Nexus asked.

"I understand." Ironwood nodded, "But you don't have to worry about that anytime soon. The document I've been waiting have arrived just now."

"Document?" Eve wonders.

"If you must know, it is a permit of sorts." He explained, "I've been needing to transport my students to Vale for the Vytal festival happening there near the end of the year, so I needed the required paperwork done before then."

"And you have them now, right…?" Bliz pointed out.

"Yes, and the required testing for the new drones are all finished too." The general nodded, "So, I'll be heading back to Atlas to begin preparations for the transport of the Amity Colosseum and the transfers for Atlas' participating students soon. Speaking of which, are you, by any chance, participating in this year's Vytal Tournament?"

"That's still up in the air." Nexus tells him, "Headmaster Ozpin did encourage us to join in as the last big event we'll going to handle in our years in Beacon, though I feel that maybe someone else may be the new champion for the tournament. Everyone deserves a chance to aim for the top."

"Pretty courteous of you, Nexus Sapphire." Ironwood stated with a smile, "…Now then, I believe we have talk enough. I'll withdraw my troops by sunset tomorrow. Until then, keep up the good work." He then proceeds to leave the room, "Recommend checking out the restaurant down on Main Street. They serve food perfect for Huntsmen after a Grimm fight, and even a discount for Huntsmen-in-training as well."

"We'll give it a shot." Nexus stated with a smile back.

As the general left the room closing the door behind him, Nexus' expression changed to a more serious tone, "This isn't the complete truth, is it…?" He stated, "Leona, has the camera been…?"

"Since Ironwood left." He stated as he took out a small camera bug from his pockets.

"Good. Now we can talk." Nexus stated as he stood up to turn to his teammates, "What do you guys think?"

"Ironwood definitely is hiding something from us." Bliz stated, "He has the whole 'I'm keeping secrets~' look in his eyes."

"There's THAT, and the fact that he would deploy an entire battalion to the border town here just to get some documents." Leona stated out, "Kind of overkill, don't you think?"

"Not only that, I highly doubt that he would arrive AFTER the hordes has started to thin out." Eve stated, "Even if it is in a tundra, he wouldn't took that long to even arrive at the outpost, especially if they are testing out the droids. He could have easily sent them out to try and help us."

"So, what's the plan, Nexus?" Bliz asked.

"We let him withdraw his troops for now." Nexus said, "Our mission is to protect the outpost and get rid of the major Grimm infestation around here. And if Ironwood withdraw his troops, it would solve that quite quickly. But we'll keep an eye out for him. One sign of trouble, we are to put a stop to it, got it?"

"Understood." They all nodded in agreement, "By the way, Nexus." Leona asked placing his hands behinds his head, "Are you sure that you don't want to enter the tournament? I would make quite an event for our yearbook."

"I'm good." His leader stated, "Besides, the only reason I join the tournament that time is due to family issues."

"Your uncle and grandfather, huh…?" Bliz sighed slightly, "It must be tough, born into such a prestigious clan of Huntsmen. The pressure on you must be enormous."

"I am their 'prodigy' after all." Nexus stated sighing, "It's both a blessing and a curse at the same time."

"You know, if your brother hear that, he's going to be pissed." Eve pointed out.

"Yeah, I know…"

"So, what's after this?" Leona asked, "Any new missions popping up lately? It's like Ozpin is trying so hard to keep us away from Beacon for some reason these past months."

"Yeah, the mission did when longer than anticipated." Bliz stated, "I wonder if your brother is pissed at that?"

"He probably is." Her partner chuckles, "But sure would be nice to head back to Beacon. We haven't had a real break since the start of the new school year."

"You just want to see Coco again." Eve stated with a smile.

"I-I do not!" Leona cried out blushing.

"Anyway, want to head for the restaurant Ironwood spoke about?" Nexus asked walking towards the door, "If there's a discount, I would want that. I've been short in cash for the past month. No thanks to Eva."

"It's your maintenance fee that's the issue!" Eve stated with a mock frown.

"Come on, you two can work it tonight later." Leona stated sighing, "Just…keep it to a minimum, will you? Last few nights has been hard to sleep due to your 'nightly activities'."

"Then don't listen, you perv!" Eve cried blushing.

…

* * *

_To be continued…_

**There, done! Surprise, surprise! Not a chapter about my main cast but of NEBL!**

**Yeah, I have plans on making this for a long while. I wanted to show off some of NEBL's members and their relationship with each other before properly introducing them into the main story.**

**So yeah, NEBL everyone!**

**So when I was planning out NEBL's members, I wanted to include at least two things.**

**One, RWBY Ironman.**

**Two, OP team for the win! Well, not completely, but you get the point.**

**Now, I want to tell you from here on out is a filler arc, as I like to put it, Volume 1.5 of RWBY. There hasn't been much stuff that's been said between Volume 1 and 2 in canon so I decided to make my own little story. Now, LIGT has their turn so now is BLAZ's turn, I hope.**

**They are pretty hard to write, I give you that. I mean, they are pretty much the standard background characters of the entire cast.**

**Anyway, now I want to ask you something so you can just answer me: Do you want to see their one week vacation or do you want to skip right back into the main story and have omake of all that happens between the several chapters from next chapter onwards?**

**Tell what you think and I'll try to write it in to my next chapter.**

**And also, expect quite an irregular update from me, as well as for my other fics considering that I have rather focus on this one for quite a while. Don't worry, I have no yet abandoned them, just on a hiatus from writers block. Except for the Persona 3 fic, that one I'm considering discontinuing.**

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**


	15. Chapter 13

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

**Chapter 13 Spring Break (Continued)**

* * *

Light panting is heard as footsteps stepped on the dry dirt ground. The desert plains of Mistral is one of the many natural barriers that surrounds the Kingdom, from an active volcano to the dense jungle to the west of it. The desert was nicknamed the Bronze Plains by the locals, due to the strong semblance of the colour in the dirt. It was quite a way out of the capital, but close to the volcanic region of the continent, making it one of the harshest natural area in all of Remnant.

It also, however, make it one of the well-known training sites for future Huntsmen and Huntresses due to the harsh conditions. That's where the Dark Wings are currently at, with two students from Beacon training under their wings. Right now, Jaune is out jogging in the desert with Io, the woman leading the poor boy on. Jaune changed into a white tracksuit with weights on his wrists and ankles, and looked like he is about to pass out from exhaustion.

"A-Are we… *pant* d-done yet… *Weez*?" Jaune gasped as he struggles to keep up with the lady in front of him.

"We barely even reach the halfway point!" Io scolded as she turned to him running backwards, "We still have a few miles to go!"

"W-*pant* what?!" He cried out panting.

"Hey, when you're a huntsmen, you need to be able to trek hundreds of kilometres across the land and still be able to fight afterwards." She tells him, "That's why Jason designed this regiment for any newcomers. The mornings are always stamina builders, and after breakfast it would be strength trainings with push-ups and all that jazz, after lunch would be sparring, and after dinner is a last night jog before bed!"

"S-Sounds… *pant* a-a lot… *pant* simpler… *pant* t-then rea-reality…"

"Come on, it's only the first day!" Io stated as she turn back front, "Okay, we're going to sprint now!"

"What?"

"If you lag behind, you're going to have to carry me back to the encampment!" She called out as she picked up speed.

"W-What?! H-Hey, w-wait!" Jaune cried out as he struggles to sprint after her.

Elsewhere, Raine is busy running through the sandy plains with a new sword in his hand. A cyan-coloured katana blade with a metal casing with three holes drilled on the sides attached at the cross guard with the cocking lever on the back of the square black tsuba guard, a handle with a trigger under it; the handle itself is in a dark blue shade of carbon-fibre with steel plate on the side screwed tight by four metal bolts with a magazine housing at the end. On the metal plate is his symbol in black.

He has the sword in his right hand with his shorter sword in his left, he slashes to his right and cutting down a blast in half, the two halves passed by him. Silver appeared next to him with what appears to be a shotgun that designed to look like a club in his hand, the handle parallel to the barrel and a steel plate covering the barrel and the cylindrical magazine of the shotgun. A symbol of a lion-head with a sword in its mouth on its side.

He swings down the club-shotgun down at the younger teen, Raine blocked it with his shorter sword. He then pulls a trigger on his sword, a gunshot is heard and his sword glowed blue with lightning crackling on the blade and a bullet casing is ejected out of the cross guard with the metal cast sliding forward as it pops out before sliding back in place. He counters with a stab of lightning that shorts passed Silver's head who rolled out of the way in time for a lightning bolt to shoot out of the tip of the sword and into the sky, creating a mini thunder as it arcs around the area into the sandy ground, the spots struck turned black or glassy from the intense heat.

The older male leaped back a little before firing another blast out of his gun, Raine zips out of the way before charging towards him. When he came close to Silver, he slashes down at him while pulling the trigger, the blade glowed brightly and clashes with the club shotgun. The electricity shocks the wielder as the silver haired huntsman stumbled back slightly, leaving him opened for a counter, one which Raine took as he stepped forward and with both blades ready to strike, he slashes a combo of sword strikes while pressing the trigger with each strike. The lightning charged blade strikes onto Silver's aura, knocking him back slightly before the final combo of slashes, with sounds of his dust bullets discharging, hits him back a few metres.

"Not bad." He smirked, looking at the younger male who in turn is checking out his new sword, "But you seems to have forgotten the new length of your new weapon. The distance between you and me are too close for any effective damage."

"Yeah, still not used to the distance difference…" Raine stated feeling the metal of the blade between his fingers.

"Still, never thought you would use your own Dust Burst system for your new sword." Silver added, "You always stated that it is too strong for you to handle."

"Well, I decreased the amount of Dust used in each bullet." The younger male tells him as he removes the magazine from the sword handle, "Raikiri… You know, when I sent my blueprints, I never imagine the blade to be this long."

"But damn the blade is sharp." Silver stated with a smile, "It slash through the Dust blast like butter. And there's hardly a dent on it."

"I did specify the mixture of alloys for the blade to make it as durable as it could get." Raine stated before sheathing his short sword, "I guess it passed."

"Ready for round two?" Silver smirked as he readied his club in a mock fencing stance.

"Always." Raine returned the smirk as he took his sword with both his hands. And they charges forward with their weapons clashing in the middle.

The rest of the mercenary team is currently either cleaning up their weapons or reading up on the daily news-print at their current base of operations, a desert home that consists of a two two-story buildings connected to a main lobby and an open hangar at the back where their bullhead airship is parked.

Jason wiped a white cloth on his pistol part of his weapon as he clicked back the slide and barrel, looking up at the two huntsmen-in-training. He was pretty interested in the blonde knight, who is lagging behind a backward sprinting Io.

"Jaune Arc, huh?" Artemis said while flipping through the paper, "An Arc, of all things."

"I'll say." Medea stated as she started up the electric stove, placing a skillet on the hotplate, "I'm surprised that the person Raine want us to help train is an Arc…"

"Is an Arc that amazing?" Copper asked from his seat on the sofa, "Because he doesn't SEEM that amazing…"

"Well, not really, if you're talking about huntsmen status…" Artemis explained, "You see, the Arcs has been one of the longest family of warriors since before the huntsmen association is established. They are one of the few families that was actively fighting the Grimm as well as one of the major armies in the Great War."

"But since the Huntsmen Association has been descended, they started to dwindle down a little." Jason stated, "The last generation of Arc was one of the few great heroes that fought during the Faunus War, but was killed in action."

"So… this kid could be…"

"He's one of the latest generation, yes." Medea nodded, "But I'm surprised… From what I heard, the current generation is mostly girls…"

"Not completely, if I recall…" Blaec stated, "They have one son, but they didn't want him to become a warrior."

"Ah! Then he…!" Copper stated.

"He's their son, yup." Jason nodded, "And the funny thing is, they kind of ask me to find him and take him home. By any means necessary."

"And… you're not doing that…?" Copper asked curiously, "That seems rather out of character for you. N-Not that I think that your normal attitude is great or anything!"

"…It's mostly because I've seen people like him before." Their leader smirked, "Despite being scared, he is still hanging there in Beacon. From what I can tell from that defence he is able to put up back at Beacon yesterday, he has the capabilities to be a great warrior, and an amazing huntsman. He just need much more training for him to reach the level worthy of being called a Huntsman."

"Thus the Jason Special, right?" Artemis smirked.

"He definitely has the stubbornness of an Arc." Jason stated, just as Jaune is panting as he limped back to the front of the house, "Must be a hereditary trait for them." The blonde then proceeds to collapse face first on the sandy dirt.

"Hey guys! Time to eat!" Medea called out as she placed the plates of omelettes and bacon on the dining table.

"Sweet! Medea's homemade breakfast!" Raine stated as he rushes towards the house as Io drags the poor blonde by the collar on the sandy ground.

* * *

After breakfast, according to the schedule for Jaune, the blonde knight is pulled to the side to perform push-ups with Io sitting on his back, "Come on, another hundred to go!" Io cheered as he struggles to finish the hundredth set, "Then it is sit-ups and crunches time! Oh, and a thousand sword strikes, one-handed!"

"I-I'm…" Jaune groaned as he pushed upwards, "…Going… To… Die…"

"Maybe this could be an assistance." Redgrave stated walking up to them, before pulling out a cyclone knife from under his coat and putting it under the blonde's chin, the teen looked at the blade in horror before turning up to face the older male. Redgrave give him a standard smile, "If you dropped below where the blade it, it will cut up that chin of yours like butter."

"Ah…haha…hahahaha…" Jaune chuckles nervously before going back doing his push-ups faster trying not to touch the blade.

"God dammit, Redgrave, give the boy a break." Medea tells the man as she and Silver walked up to him, "He has a lot on his plate already, and that's including Io."

"Hey!"

"Although, he does need some encouragement." Silver stated rubbing his chin in thought, "Let's see, you'll get to fondle Io's boobs if you finish all of the entire regime."

"Stop talking like I'm not here!" Io shouted angrily as she got off of the blonde, Jaune flopped on the sandy ground with a thud.

"Hanging there, Arc?" Jason asked kneeling next to the tired boy, he managing to turn his head to look at him.

"S-Somehow…" He moaned as he turns his body to face the sky, "…I can see why… Pyrrha was worried…"

"You're her partner, right?" The leader of Dark Wings asked, his fellow members arguing in the background, "You're going to have to work hard to be her equals."

"I know…" Jaune sighed, "Sometimes… I kind of wish that Pyrrha was our team's leader. She is strong, skilled, and beautiful, she would make a better leader than me."

"I don't think so." Jason smirked, "A leader isn't necessary the strongest. I can remember back in my days at Beacon. The most socially awkward girl in our year is made the leader of her team. She isn't the most skilled or strongest of her team, if anything, her partner is better than her. Even though, she has something that he don't. Kind of like you."

"Me?" The blonde got up looking at the older male confused, "What… do I have…?"

"Hm… How do I put it…?" He muses for a while, "I guess, if I would to put it in words, she was a dork."

"Huh?"

"You'll get it soon enough." Jason stated as he got up, "Come on, get to it! You still have roughly fifty push-ups to go and the a few hundreds of crunches and sit-ups!"

"Gak! R-Right…" Jaune groaned before getting back to his push-ups.

Raine on the other hand isn't really training hard right now. He seems to be at the dining table, checking up his scroll for something. "Raine, what are you doing?" Artemis asked walking up from behind him.

"Checking my messages." Raine stated, "It was sounding a lot last night and I have to place it to silent as it was bothering the others." He swiped the hologram as he browsed through the many texts he got, "Yang, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Yang, Yang… Pyrrha?" He opens up the one from his ex-partner.

[Raine, sorry to bother you on the first day of Spring Break, but Milo has broken down. I think the previous spar before the holidays damaged the inner gears and it can't change into its rifle form. Pls help.]

"And she didn't say a single word before we left…" Raine huffed annoyed, "Oh well…" He then proceeds to text back.

[Sure, I'll check if they could sent be a ride to your place later.]

"So, Artemis." He turned to face the older petite female Huntress, "Do you think-?"

"Sure, why not?" She smiled, "I need to pick up some ammo for ol' Blue Hunter here." She patted the compact weapon on her back, "Still can't believe you manage to design a weapon perfectly suited for my fighting style after my old one broke."

"It's pretty easy, consider the straightforwardness of your attack patterns." Raine chuckled, "Remind me a lot of my cousins, actually."

"I'll start up the engine." Artemis said as she walked towards the garage, "See you in twenty minutes?"

"I guess, I need to get the toolbox too. And my wallet." He proceeds to walk towards the male side of the complex, 'Hopefully, Blaec didn't snag my wallet this time.'

* * *

After a quick flight via their bullhead ship, they parked near the port of the Kingdom of Mistral. The town is packing with many people of all races and ethics, Faunus and Humans alike, all in casual with a few armoured Huntsmen and Huntresses walking about. There isn't as much shops as there are in Vale or as big due to the lack of landmass the Kingdom walls surrounds, but it has a lot of weapon shops all about. Most of the best warriors, if not Huntsmen, ordered their weaponry from Mistral.

Raine wait about at the meeting place that he texted Pyrrha just before he left, outside of a small Dust shop at the corner of the street, with a toolkit in one hand and his scroll opened in another. This time, he is checking up with the news of Mistral instead of Vale, for any signs of the White Fang or mysterious events. So far, none. Which feels strange to him.

'Are they focusing their attacks on Vale, then…?" He wonders, 'If so… why…?'

"Raine!"

He looked up from his scroll to be greeted by the ginger-haired goddess of war, Pyrrha in a more casual outfit than her battle attire, a brown woollen long-sleeved turtleneck and blue long skirt and dark boots, her hair tied in the usual ponytail. In her hands is a black case.

"Hey, Pyrrha." Raine greeted with a smile.

"Sorry to call you up on the first day of the week." She said with a sheepish smile, "I was planning on getting some practice in for the Vytal Tournament at this coming fall, and I don't really trust others with Milo so…"

"No biggie." Raine chuckles, "I did help designed it, still have the blueprints too, remember?" He then looked closely, "Are you… wearing make-up…?"

"Huh? O-Oh, w-well…"

"If you wanted to see Jaune, you can just text me, right?" He stated with a teasing smirk.

"N-No! I-It's not- I-I just…" She muttered poking her fingers together blushing up a storm. Raine took a glance around them, noticing people are muttering and people starting to take photos with their scrolls. "Come on, let's head back to your place." He tells her.

"Y-Yeah…" Pyrrha nodded. As they proceed to leave, Raine notices a familiar face walking about on the opposite road. The silvery hair and pointy canine-like ears, "Hey… isn't that…?" He muttered before waving up to him, "EMBER!"

Ember stopped in his steps, looking over his shoulder in surprise as the appearance of his leader in Mistral, "Raine?" He stated in surprise, "What are you doing in Mistral? Aren't you supposed to be training with Jaune with the mercenary group you used to work with?"

"I am, just that Pyrrha needs some maintenance and repair for Milo." Raine tells his teammate, "So, you lived near this part of the neighbourhood?"

"No, it's just down the street, near the docks." He stated, "The rent is quite cheap due to the smell and noise, but compared to my previous' places, it is luxury."

"And how is Blake?" Raine asked.

"She's fine, for the time being." He stated, "At the park reading, I supposed. I would suggest the library, but she would basically be there for the whole day till it closes. I was just enjoying a stroll myself. There's pretty much nothing to do for the time being and I didn't want either of us to be cooped indoors the entire day, which is something that Blake would probably do…"

"Although, now that you said it out loud I'm a bit worried…" Pyrrha stated worriedly.

"Huh? About what?"

"Ah…!" Raine stated with a perverted smirk, "A guy and a girl alone for the week… Ohohohohoho~ The things that would happen~"

"That's highly impossible." Ember stated with a straight face, "We have no real attraction to one another, we are like siblings if anything."

"Ah, so your target is Moon after all." Raine stated with a smirk.

"No, it's not." He groaned.

"Anyway, mind checking Milo now?" Pyrrha asked gesturing to the case in her hand.

"Sure thing, let's head somewhere without the crowd." Raine stated pointing backwards towards the passer-by all pointing out Pyrrha from the group. They all nodded in understanding before walking off.

* * *

They made it Ember's apartment, a small three-room flat with a spare room that he never use for anything but it was a small table there. In that room, Raine took out Milo from the case in its rifle form, moving it around and checking every small detail on the weapon. "…The adjusting bolt is loosen…" He took out a screwdriver from the tool kit and starts unscrewing the many parts from one another, taking it apart while checking for any damages on them.

"Damn, the trigger is worn out… the barrel never really got properly cleaned…" He mumbles, before feeling the blade, "…Never really sharpen, huh… She really is working really hard…"

In the living room, Ember sat down on the couch flipping through the channels for something to watch, before stopping at the news channel. On the air the reporter is interviewing various people about the recent White Fang activities around the four Kingdoms. Every one of the interviewees mostly spouts racist words towards the Faunus on how they are too stupid to think that they can co-exist with humans on equal levels.

Then one of them just stated that all of Faunus kind is to be blamed to on the White Fang's activities, something that Ember growled at before turning off the TV and tossing the remote on the table. 'Ignorant racists…' He thought angrily.

"You shouldn't take their words to heart." Pyrrha stated as she sat down with two cold cans of soda. The fox Faunus huffed before taking the drink and downing it down his throat, "This place is pretty nice. How much did you bought it for?"

"Four hundred Lien rent." He stated placing the can down, "The landlord is kind to most Faunus, as long as he got his rent. Most of the residence of the building are actually Faunus stowaways or illegal immigrants."

"So… this place is like a den of criminals…?" Pyrrha asked worriedly.

"Nope, like I said, most of them are stowaways." He pointed out, "Majority of them is to escape from the White Fang's influence. Some of them are empathisers of the original White Fang's cause but against the current's goals."

"A-Ah… I see…" She sighed in relief before reaching for the remote. Turning the TV back on, it flips to a tabloid news show talking about the appearance of Pyrrha Nikos along with two unknown man, one is a Faunus and speculations starts to blew up among the two hosts. "*sigh* Not even an hour has passed and it already became local news…"

"Must be tough, being a champion." Ember stated.

"Yeah, but Raine could be one if he tried." She stated with a huff, "He has a chance every year but choose to forfeit every time…"

"Every time…? Like for the past four years?" Ember asked.

"Well, except for the first time." She pointed out, "He lost in the semi-finals against me during the first tournament. After that, during the semi-finals, he never tried to win and forfeit on the spot."

"Huh…" He muttered, "So, why do you think he does that?"

"No idea. When I asked, all he said was that all the fighters are not strong enough."

"Not strong enough…?" Ember wonders.

"I'm done!" Raine called out as he exited the room with Milo in his hands, "The bolt and the firing pin are loose and the screw holding the transformation mechanism is screw in too tight." He explained as he placed the weapon on the coffee table, "I've loosen the screw and tightened up the pin and bolt. While I'm at it, I cleaned up the barrel for you and sharpened your blade slightly." Pyrrha picked up her weapon before spinning it around in the air as it switches to its javelin form, then she switches it to its sword mode.

"Thanks, Raine." She said with a smile, "I knew I can count on you."

"Of course." He stated with a smirk, "I am me, after all~"

"Keep that ego in." Pyrrha sighed slightly.

"If you have that big of an ego, why did you forfeit at every semi-finals of the Mistral Tournament?" Ember asked.

"Didn't Pyrrha tell you that herself?" Raine asked.

"I highly doubt that with that large ego of yours, you would want to forfeit at all." The Faunus stated, "That is something that Leaf will do, not you."

"Well, it does seems rather out-of-character of me…" His leader stated.

"So, what's the real reason?" He asked, Pyrrha leaning in towards Raine as well.

"Uh…" Raine looked to the side for a while before groaning silently, "Well… If I would be blunt… what I said isn't completely wrong. The fights to the semi-finals are pretty predictable and not really worth it. And… I never got my rematch."

"Rematch?" Pyrrha wonders, before realizing, "Oh… For that one year, huh…"

"If I can't at least beat you, heading to the finals doesn't feel right." Raine stated smirking, "I need to properly prove that I'm the strongest about the two of us after all!"

"Now, that's sounds like the ego of yours." Ember sighed, "

"…Even after you graduated, you can't stop trying to improve yourself, huh…?" Pyrrha sighed.

"Hey, how do you expect to be the best without a little elbow-grease?" Raine chuckled.

"You do wake up very early every morning." Ember stated, "That reminds me. I've planning to tell you this since the second week, but PLEASE do not sing in the shower in the goddamn morning every time!"

"I see, you still do that…" Pyrrha face-palmed.

"Hey, I would let you know, I have an awesome singing voice!"

They chat for a while until the sun began to set and everyone went their separate ways.

* * *

The next day of training at the Dark Wings' desert hideout proceeds as usual for Jaune, the poor blonde knight being pushed again into rigorous training regimes, this time by Silver and Artemis. The two make sure that Jaune followed the training regimes properly and sometimes add in a little something from their own into it.

Like Silver firing his shotgun-club at the poor knight as additional obstacles to the usual desert run or adding additional pounds of weights to his strength training at complete random intervals, which usually means at their mood.

Raine, on the other hand, besides the morning run, didn't join much in Jaune's training regime. This time, he is busy calibrating his new sword, mostly the magazine housing of handle as well as the unique parts for the Dust Burst system. Right now, he is just putting back the major parts into the casing crossguard. After sliding the handle through, he closed it up with a stopper. He cocked the hammer, and then pressed the trigger with the hammer slamming back in.

'Alright, all is functional…' He thought before sheathing the sword. 'I wonder if Jaune is doing okay…'

He left the house to the desert area marked down by the Dark Wings as their personal training area, mostly for weight lifting and sparring sessions. When he made it there, he took notice of the large weighted barbells, the number on the weights of the five digits. 'Is Jason training today…?'

He then took notice of the huffs and puffs underneath the barbells, then finally the mob of familiar blonde hair strikes danger bells in his head, "Jaune?!"

"*Huff…* H-Hey… Raine…"

"What the heck happened here?!" Raine cried out.

"Well, apparently Silver thinks it's a good idea for Jaune-y boy here to keep adding weights every three seconds." Medea stated, she along with the guilty party standing beside the poor boy. Silver in particular spotting a bump on his head.

"Hey, that's what I always do for strength training!" Silver cried out, "It helps with aura training as well!"

"That's just you!" Medea shouted.

"Um…Jaune doesn't know how to channel his aura yet…" Raine pointed out.

"…For real…?" Medea muttered, "One semester has passed and he didn't know how to channel his aura?!"

"Well, he didn't unlock his own aura until during the incitation test- wait shouldn't we get the strangling device off him first?!" He cried out. The others turn to the blonde, Jaune's face already starting to turn blue from lack of air.

"Crap!" Silver quickly pulled up the barbell, Jaune quickly inhaled as much as air as he could in one breath before breathing out a sigh in relief. "I…I thought I was… a goner…" He groaned.

"Sorry… we kinda forgot that you were under there…" Medea nervously chuckled as the slugger of a man dropped the barbell on the ground with a thud.

"So, you unlocked your aura but never has been taught the basics of aura usage?" Silver asked with eyebrows raised, "Did Beacon dropped their standards the past years?"

"He lied his way in." Raine confessed for him, "Didn't went to combat school and no prior combat experience. But Pyrrha and I has been teaching him as much as we can. Except for aura control though. He is not ready for that yet."

"I can tell." Artemis stated, "His physical strength is lacking but he has a good core. He just need to strengthen that lanky limps of his."

"Yup, he has mean six-pack." Silver chuckles, before returning into a stern look, "Even so, for a Huntsman to not be able to at least manifest his aura slightly, that's a real handicap if he wishes to continue this line of work."

"I agree." Medea stated, "Although your aura is unlocked and you have that natural barrier around you, just having a shield isn't good enough."

"I know that…" Jaune stated as he got back up, "But I only just starting learning to fight. I just manage to learn how swing my sword properly. It'll be the end of the first year before I find out my semblance…"

"We're not talking about semblances, Jaune." Raine pointed out.

"Huh? Isn't… semblance the same as controlling your aura?"

"Semblance is the representation of the soul, of your persona." Silver explains, "No two semblances are the same. There might be similar semblances, but all of them are different."

"Aura is the manifestation of the soul." Artemis added on, "Every soul is different but the aura we put out is almost identical. It is the energy of the self, in a way."

"To control your aura is to control your soul." Raine stated, "To control your soul is to control your inner self."

"Um…" The blonde scratched his head in confusion.

"Put it this way." Medea stated, "A soul is like a dust battery and the aura is the energy of that battery. In order to manipulate that energy, wires are placed down. To control how much energy is sent through, a dial is connected. Your body is both the wire and the dial."

"That… sort of make sense…" Jaune nodded nervously, "Then… a semblance is different?"

"Semblance is something like a fingerprint, Jaune." Raine stated, "Like Silver said, the representation of your soul. Something like a fingerprint. If aura is energy, then using your semblance is basically changing that energy into something entirely different."

"I can see why you thought controlling your aura is the same as a semblance." Medea added, "In a sense, they are, but at the same time, not."

"I think I understand…" Jaune said, "So… like Raine's semblance is similar to Ruby's semblance but are different abilities all together…"

"Don't worry. Aura control isn't that hard." Silver stated, "Once in combat school and you pretty much build up basic foundations, manipulating your aura just come naturally. Think of it as… a secondary instinct."

"He just unlocked his aura couple of months ago, remember?" Artemis groaned.

"Oh, you're still here, Artemis."

"Don't just make me disappear just because the author-"

"Stop! That wall is sacred, we are not to break it!" Silver cried out.

"What are they talking about…?" Jaune asked.

"Their little comedy routine. Something about the fourth wall or something…" Raine stated, "Just leave them be for now."

"Hey, Silver! Artemis!" Medea called out clapping her hands together to get their attention, "We're dealing with Jaune-y boy's problem, not watch your act!"

"Sorry…" Artemis apologized, before clearing her throat, "Anyway… Jaune Arc has just unlocked his aura, there is no way he is capable of aura control or physically up to it."

"Physically, maybe." Medea stated, "He definitely is well-toned and his strength is the standard for a beginner Huntsman…"

"Not there yet." The shorter woman explained, "Then we shall remain on the physical training for the rest of the week. Stick to the old Jason regime."

"I'm afraid we have to cut it short." They turned to face the leader of the mercenary group walking up to them with his Scroll opened in his hands, "We got a new job, a last minute request." Jason stated.

"What for? Didn't we place the (away on holiday) sign at the shop as well as on our site?" Silver asked.

"They used the code." He stated, the members all gain a firm look as to Jaune's confusion.

"What about a code…?" The blonde wonders.

"It's something that was agreed on for freelance Huntsmen groups." Raine explained, "If the request uses a certain code, it usually means it's an emergency respond request. It's usually the council that sent it."

"A request from the Kingdom's Council…?-!" Jaune stated in shock.

"Sorry for the slight change in schedule, Jaune." Jason sighed, "This one is way too important."

"They could tag along." Artemis added, "A real mission might be good experience for the boy."

"I don't see why not. I mean, Raine is an official member since last year." Silver stated, "We can just have the boy as back-up, or as an escorted party."

"That's a pretty good idea, actually." Medea stated, "I agree. Jason?"

"If that's the case, sure." He smirked, "Jaune Arc, as of today, you are a probationary member of the Dark Wings until the mission is over. You are to follow all our orders exactly or risk death."

"I-Isn't death a little much…?" Jaune asked worriedly.

"That's the risk of every mission, Jaune." Raine smirked, "So, Jason, where to?"

"The outpost Bifrost." He stated, "A huntsman-trainee team is keeping the Grimm at bay for now, but the hordes are almost unless. We are to find the cause and put a stop to it." He then turned to the youngest member with a smirk, "And that team is pretty familiar with you, Raine."

"Huh…?"

* * *

_To be continued…_

**YES! FINALLY IT'S DONE!**

**OH GOD the time it took to finally finish this! I have so much to do and I have blocks on how to portray the several days of Spring Break…**

**Not only that, Volume 3 has ended with a huge bang! Watch it from 1 to 12 and like everyone else, I was completely blown away at the ending. I mean, it just went DARK!**

**Major character deaths, humanity divided and against itself, and the DEATHS! Oh the deaths! I have to say, it was the best volume in the series so far in terms of character development and storytelling on a pretty much a web series. The drama and tension it left me is still gripping on me!**

**Without spoiling too much, let me just say that Arkos has sunk. I repeat, Arkos has sunk. But not in that way, no. It heads out on its true maiden voyage and got bombed several meters from the harbour!**

**I have plans on how to corporate the volume 2 and 3 plus I will add in small arcs so to transition between them easier. That's the main reason for the Spring Break arc. I need to a way to merge the two volumes together and not feel too awkward.**

**But I have ideas for the possible relationships between OCs and possible canonxoc ships. Just has to wait.**

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**

**OH! And here're some small omake about the other main casts.**

* * *

_**Spring Break: Ruby and Yang**_

Yang lie down on the bed looking at her scroll, a small frown on her face, "Come on, Raine, reply or something…"

"He haven't replied yet, Yang?" Ruby asked as she walked into the room with a glass of milk in her hand.

"No he hasn't!" The blonde bombshell huffed, "He could just write a 'nice day' at least!"

"Well, if you didn't sent hordes of them at once, he would have replied by now!" Her sister stated.

"What's this about texting a boy?" Their father, Taiyang walked into their shared bedroom. The man has lilac eyes and shaggy blonde hair with a small tip of a beard under his bottom lip with a series of tattoos on his right arm, wearing brown cargo shorts with a dark red belt and black shoes, a red bandanna on his right arm, a brown leather vest over a tan dress shirt with the right sleeve cut off with a steel shoulder pad on his right shoulder instead, "You know how I feel about boys, Yang."

"Relax, papa bear." Yang tells him, "It's just Raine."

"Raine? Who's that? A new male friend now?" The man mumbled as he cracked his knuckles.

"You forgotten, dad?!" Ruby cried, "Raine! That boy from next door! Our cousin!"

"Cousin…?"

"He's aunt Yue's son, remember?" Yang stated, "The shy twin?"

"Oh! R-Raine!" The man laughed, "I can't believe I forgotten about him! It has been years since I've last heard of him. How is he? Is he doing okay?"

"He's doing awesome, dad!" Ruby stated with a cheer, "He is the leader of his team, he kicked butt of almost everyone, and he is the amazing RAE!"

"RAE…?" The man's eyebrows raised in confusion, before sighing in relief, "So, he's doing fine… That's good…"

"But he's a little gross at times…"

"…gross…?"

"Yeah, he's being like uncle Qrow." The younger sister stated, "Looking at all the girls chest weirdly with this gross smile… And telling dirty jokes like him too."

"W-Well… h-he's a growing boy…" Taiyang tells her, "It's natural for boys to start acting that way at his age. As long as he keep his boundaries."

'Especially from my girls, nephew or not.' He added mentally.

"Yang did let him grope her one time."

"Yang did WHAT?!"

That is when Ruby wished she kept her mouth shut.


	16. Chapter 14

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

* * *

**Chapter 14 Mission Bifrost**

It was nearing sunrise when the Dark Wings' Bullhead airship flew across the snowy plains having set out in the middle of the night. Most of the members are sleeping soundly with the exceptions of a few loud snoring from a couple of them. Jaune was nodding off before a slight turbulence shook the ship slightly, waking him up right when his motion sickness kicked him on the head as he tries to hold his dinner in.

When he looked around for some help, he spots Raine looking outside of the window with a forlorn look on his face. "…You were awake the whole night…?" The blonde knight asked.

"Yeah, couldn't sleep even if I wanted to." Raine stated.

"Oh…" Jaune muttered before his face turns green and he desperately covered his mouth to try and not vomit on the private Bullhead's floors. Raine hands him a paper bag and he proceeds to puke out all his past meals into it. "I guess that pill only works for a while at best." His friend chuckles.

"Man, you have the worst motion sickness I have ever seen." Silver laughed, the man on the co-pilot seat, "We fashion this Bullhead with the thought of motion sickness in mind. The turbines outside are quiet and stabilise the ship quite well with little to no shaking."

"Good thing we're almost at the outpost." Copper at the pilot seat stated, "It's just up ahead."

As he says this, the view of Bifrost's airbase can be seen from the horizon, Jaune looking out the window with much curiosity. Raine inwardly sighed nervously as he recalled what Jason told him yesterday.

* * *

_Flashback_

"_Team NEBL?-!" Raine cried out, "They're the ones that requested help?-!"_

"_Not entirely true." Jason explained, "They're the ones that recommended us."_

"_Who's NEBL? Are they someone you know?" Jaune asked._

"_They're a third year team from Beacon, and that on its own is saying something." Medea stated, "What's interesting is the leader. He's a member of the Hunter Clan, a direct relative of the current head."_

"_Hunter Clan…" Jaune muttered, "That's same as…" He then pieces it all together, "They're your brother's team?-!"_

"_Yup." Raine sighed, "Nexus Sapphire. My older brother and one of the many prodigies of the Hunter Clan."_

"_And he needs help…?" The blonde knight stated._

"_Apparently so…"_

"_If HE needs help, then we better move now." Silver stated._

"_Already done." Jason stated with a smirk, "I have Copper start up the Bullhead while Io and Blaec are packing up the supplies. I just came to get you all."_

"_Then what are we waiting for?-! Let's go!" Artemis stated as she rushes on, with Silver not far behind. Medea sighs a little before taking a brisk walk after them with Jason following suit chuckling. Jaune is about to run after them before noticing Raine looking up at the evening sky._

"_Raine?"_

"_Huh? Oh! S-Sorry about that, I spaced out for a moment, did I…?" Raine nervously chuckles, "Come on, let's go!" He stated dashing forward, as Jaune ran after him. What the blonde knight didn't notices is the forlorn look on Raine's face._

* * *

The bullhead soon descends down onto the helipad of the outpost's port, the highest ranking officer on the ground awaiting their arrival. With him, stood Bliz and Leona waiting anxiously for their reinforcements, "So… you know about these 'Dark Wings'…?" He asked them.

"Our leader's brother is a part-time member, from what I remember," Leona stated, "and… there are some praises on them…"

"Not much, really." Bliz shrugged, "Freelance Huntsmen teams aren't that common anyway, since they are independent and some are considered illegal."

"Are they going to be much of use…?" The officer sighed, "Most of the Atlas military left but the Grimm hordes just keep on coming in…"

As soon as the airship lands on the ground, the doors opened with Jason and Medea alighting first. "Jason Sol, I presumed?" The highest ranked officer asked.

"That's me." Jason stated as he walked up to him, "Are you the one in-charge?"

"Yes, Chief-of-Staff Heim Wache." The officer stated, "I'm glad to have you here. Things are getting rather hectic of late, even with the Huntsmen here…"

"No doubt." Medea stated, "Especially when NEBL is here already. Speaking of which," She turned to the two Huntsmen/Huntress, "You must be them, or at least, part of them."

"Leona Nemea, and this is my partner, Bliz Rein." He stated.

"It's nice to meet you, ma'am." Bliz stated with a small curtsy.

"…Isn't Leona a girl's name…?"

"Oh, don't you start!" Leona cried.

At this point, Jaune has stumbled out of the ship last while covering his mouth before being given a paper bag by Raine which he proceeds to puke into, "You really need to get that looked at." Raine pointed out, getting puking in response.

"These are my team." Jason stated pointing at the members of the Dark Wings with the exception of Copper and Artemis who are busy with the safety checks, "As well as my two part-timers of this time, Jaune Arc and Raine Aoi Sapphire."

"Raine Aoi Sapphire?" Bliz stated in surprise, "He's Raine?-!"

"He definitely looked like Nexus, for the most parts…" Leona stated as his partner walked up to the younger Huntsman.

As soon as Jaune left to dispose of the barf bag, Raine was immediately greeted with a smiling face of the blonde huntress, "Raine, I presumed?"

"…You must be Bliz…" Raine stated cautiously.

"Oh, we met?" She asked.

"No, bro told me about you guys." He stated, "Let's see… you're the one with the furry fetish, right?"

"W-Wha- No I don't!" Bliz cried out blushing, "Nexus is just making stuff up!"

"You does have a thing towards Faunus, though." Leona stated walking up to them, Bliz pouts to the side with a huff which got a few chuckles from them.

"And you must be Leona." Raine stated, "Robot suit with a lasers and whatnot, right?"

"That's correct." The older huntsman chuckles, "Although it's more of an armour than an actual suit…"

"But isn't Leona a girl's name-?"

"OH COME ON!"

Raine lightly chuckles before looking around, "Where's Nexus?"

"Oh, he… kind of is at the… uh… medical bay, from… uh…"

"Bruised ribs!" Bliz pointed out.

"Ah, yes! Bruised ribs!"

"…He's still asleep, isn't he?" Raine groaned.

"Yes…" The both of them replied with a silent groan, "Eve is still trying to wake him up at this point…"

"All these years, and he still sleep in…" The younger brother sighed, "…and he's a third year too." At this point, Jaune has walked back to them before a confused expression appeared on his face, "Oh, this is Jaune." He introduced the blonde knight.

"Yes! A fellow blondie!" Bliz cheered as she slung her arms around Jaune in a one arm hug, "We should hang out more when the semester starts!"

"Uh… thanks…?" Jaune stated nervously.

"Guys!" Jason called out, all of them as well as the pair from NEBL gathered around him and Rein.

The officer then proceeds to give them the rundown on the problem. As it stands right now, couple of weeks ago, some of Atlas military were temporary stationed here for weapon testing due to the secluded nature of the outpost which consists of an entire company of troops armed and ready. The Vale military stationed here felt some kind of tension building up between them the moment they landed here, and the negativity between the two nations' militaries are attracting enormous Grimms to the outpost that they have trouble just dealing with it on their own, even with the current Huntsmen that worked there.

That is why they called upon any huntsmen-in-training to assist them in defending the outpost until Atlas military finished their business here, according to team NEBL is apparently the necessary papers for the movement of students from Atlas to Vale for the Vytal Festival. Even though the main forces left for Atlas yesterday, the hordes of Grimm are ever-increasing in terms of size and numbers, so much that the current huntsmen are not enough to defend against them.

"Which is why you called upon a freelance Huntsmen team." Medea stated, "That make sense. If you call on any proper licensed Huntsmen, there are going to be a lot of procedures with time that you lack."

"So, I believe you know the price for our services, right?" Jason pointed out.

"O-Of course!" Rein nodded, "I'll write a report to the Council once the job is completed!"

"Well, we know our position here." Blaec stated, "That leaves meeting up with the rest of team NEBL and be on our way."

"Do you guys know where they might be?" Artemis asked.

"On our ship, probably." Leona stated with a sigh, "Who knows what he is doing…"

"You guys have your own ship?-!" Jaune cried out in surprise, "The seniors are amazing!"

"Not exactly." The older huntsman chuckles, "It is a loan from the Hunter Clan. I think it was something about…"

"Inheritance." Raine stated, "It was supposed to be dad's, but he left before it was officially passed to him. So, gramps passed it to Nexus instead."

"Yeah, that." Leona stated.

"Doesn't that makes it his or something?" The blonde knight asked.

"You know what, we have better things to be worried about right now." Io stated, "Where is your ship at this port?"

* * *

"THAT, is your ship?" Io asked, pointing at the large almost cruiser sized airship at one of the hangars.

"Well, the Hunter Clan has been one for big things." Blaec sighed.

"That's beyond big though…" Artemis pointed out.

"Or, that whoever build this is overcompensating for something." Silver pointed out, every guy in the group looked at him with a stern face, "What, you were all thinking it!"

"Aaaaannnnyyway…" Bliz muttered as she walked up towards the side door, "You guys stay put, I'll go make sure they are presentable." As soon as she said that, the door opened slightly and revealed Eva wearing nothing except for Nexus' coat over her nude body.

"Heya, Bliz~ Morning to you." She purred.

"E-E-Eva…? W-What are you…?"

"Like what you see~?" She said with a sultry grin.

"I do!" Blaec said with a cheer, Raine nodding in agreement drooling slightly as he took out his scroll to take the picture. That caused them both a knuckle each to the back of their heads by both Io and Medea respectively.

"Eva! Switch back now!" Leona shouted.

The near naked girl groaned silently before her hair and eyes faded to Eve's colour, she looked around confused before feeling the slight breeze under her legs. Fully understanding almost instantly, she wrapped the coat around her while blushing brightly as she hid behind the door. "Eva, you perverted nudist…" Bliz sighed.

"U-Um…" Eve stuttered behind the moon, "C-Can you guys wait a minute…?"

"Sure, whatever." Bliz stated before realization, "Where did Eva… did it?"

"Uh…" Eve wrecked her mind a little before fear appeared on her face, "I think… I recall using one of your plushies-"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!-!" The blonde soldier cried out in agony as she rushed into the ship, knocking the coat off of Eve which prompts her to kneel down to pick up, giving the people outside a good view of her body and behind before the door is slammed shut. All the guys down there all blinked for a moment as Raine slowly keeps his scroll.

"You have quite an, um… interesting team…?" Jason stated.

"It's only in the early mornings, I assure you…" Leona groaned.

"Well, two horny teenagers on a ship." Medea stated, "They bound to do it one way of the other."

"Do what together?" Copper asked curiously.

"Well, they-" Blaec was about to start when Io slapped her hand on his mouth hard.

"So they're your brother's team…?" Jaune asked Raine, his friend sighed in defeat.

"Apparently so…"

After a while, the door opened and this time with the rest of team NEBL exiting the ship, Eve is still blushing red while wearing her proper clothes this time and Nexus lacking his coat as their leader yawned loudly, "Sorry… I… over…slept…" He muttered tiredly.

"That is why I asked you set an alarm!" Bliz shouted.

"Eva kind of wanted a quickie before bed and that just kept going…" He added much to the embarrassment of his partner.

"Oh wow…" Medea stated with a healthy blush.

"Man, he knows how to work with the lady…" Blaec stated with a smirk.

"We don't need to know that!" Raine cried out in agony.

"Raine?" Nexus blinked, before turning to face the people below, "RAINE?! What are you doing here?-!"

"For the mission assignment that YOU sent to us!" He shouted.

"I meant the main team! Not the sidekicks!"

"Who are you calling-?!"

"Nexus Sapphire, I presume." Jason voiced out while stepping in front of Raine to prevent further disturbances, "I'm Jason Sol, of the Dark Wings."

"Ah, the Dark Wings, I remember now." Nexus muttered, "But I requested for the Dark Wings' main team, not including the part-timers…"

"Once again, not a sidekick!"

"Raine is an official member since last year, just before his graduation from Sanctum." Jason explained, "For the record, it was Medea's idea."

"He needs a back-up in case his entrance to Beacon is not successful!" Medea cried.

"Can we please get back to the task at hand?!" Copper cried out.

"…Right…" Nexus coughed into his hand, "I'm sure you all clear on the reason why you guys are summoned here."

"Crystal." Silver stated with a thumbs-up.

"Where?" Artemis asked.

"In that case, if it is possible, I would like you to find out the real reason for the countless hordes of Grimm while protecting the outpost from them."

"Wait, what?" Blaec looked at him blankly, "You'll telling us to protect this outpost AND investigate the infestation?"

"I thought that was going to be the case." Jason stated with a sigh.

"That's ridiculous!" Copper shouted, "Just sitting back and making us do ALL of the work?-!"

"Why don't WE protect the outpost, while YOU investigate the infestation?-!" Artemis shouted angrily, "You guys are future Huntsmen and Huntresses too!"

"We would if we could…" Nexus sighed.

"Broke your sword again?" Raine asked with a groan.

"Yup, he did." Leona sighed, "And my current battle armours are still in repair and lacking in ammunition."

"So are us." Bliz stated with Eve nodding in agreement, "We never got enough ammo at hand and supplies for this place are arriving next week."

"That explains it." Jason stated with a nod, "Alright, team. Huddle up, plan discussion time."

"So, what is it this time?" He asked, "The blade? The trigger got jammed? If it's the blade, I was planning on making a broader one anyway so…"

"It's… um…" Nexus muttered, "'Don't kill me if you see it' bad…?"

"Why?"

* * *

The very moment Raine saw the broken weapon, his mind just went blank.

He is currently standing within the main ship of team NEBL in the main armoury/forge along with Jaune and team NEBL, looking at the broken sword.

With its cylinder busted out like a metal banana peel…

And it's blade in complete shards…

And the trigger hammer missing…

And the metal case completely snapped opened…

It was a complete disaster. "That is one broken weapon…" Jaune stated worriedly as he picked up one of the shards.

"Nexus tried to use all five shots into a strike and it exploded in his face." Leona stated with a chuckle, said wielder slowly inching out of the room, "It was a good thing that he was using his mechanical arm at the time."

"Man, was that a spectacle to behold!" Bliz laughed, "His face covered in soot and the explosion actually destroyed his arm along with the Goliath! We had to use the spare one, the one that is not weaponized!"

"…million…"

"Eh?"

"…over a million lien… gone like that…" Raine starts to shake, either from shock or anger. Or both.

"Wwwwweeeeeeeelllllllll, I got to go somewhere…" Nexus trailed off as he slowly makes his exit, "I think that, um… I have something to do so…"

"NEXUS SAPPHIRE!"

On that day, they all witness the miracle of how mere wrenches can pierce metal with precise accuracy. And to hear Nexus crying out for his mommy.

* * *

After the explanation, Jason split the team into two groups with one protecting and one investigating. The protect team consists of Copper, Blaec, Artemis and Io, the four of them were to guard the perimeters of the outpost where the attacks always hit and for Officer Heim have his soldiers prepped and ready. The investigating team is what's left of the team, which are Silver, Medea and Jason himself. The three of them are to head into the snowy mountains to find out the source and eliminate it.

As for the Raine and Jaune, the two of them are to stay as back-up as well as assist the protect team as much as they can.

"Still don't get why Silver is not protecting instead of me." Io groaned as she looked out at the white snow-filled plains, the small snowstorm blowing past decreasing the visibility slightly into a shade of white.

"We all know why, Io." Blaec stated with his sword resting on his shoulders.

"Yeah, still." She sighed, "He is still better than having only tin can and mountain girl."

"Forest, Io!" Artemis shouted from below outside the walls, "I'm from the forest, not mountains!"

"Same thing, Artemis!"

"I'm not made of tin." Copper stated, "I am organic in nature with industry steel as part of my arms. Not that I would worry about that or anything!"

"Nobody cares, Copper!" Blaec shouted back.

"Anything?" Heim asked as he walked up to the walls next to Io.

"Nothing yet." Io stated, "Just snow." She waved out to her surroundings, "Really. White. Snow…"

"Yeah, and the snowstorm isn't helping…" Artemis stated worriedly.

"Maybe today was a lucky day?" Blaec asked, "The Grimm might not appear today."

"Incoming! Hostiles!" At Copper's outburst, everyone got ready with their respective weapons.

Io unfolded her metallic bands into a pair of metal bracers with a piece sticking into the back of her hands and vents on the back near the elbows with a ring of casings just around her palms while Blaec drew out his silver pistol, Artemis' case unfolded into a similar sniper rifle weapon like Crescent Rose with an axe head instead of a scythe and the back of it is a broad blade, and Copper's right arm collapsed and forms out a three-barrel gatling gun aimed out.

"Me and my big mouth…" Blaec sighed.

Tense seconds passed as they all prepared for the large horde. Their trigger finger all twitching on their weapons, the snowstorm slowly ceased as the afternoon sun slowly beamed down through the cracks in the clouds. At that moment, they saw it.

The sea of black, white and red.

The countless of Grimm that are marching towards them like a large black flood of monsters just pouring down from the mountain like a wave. Beowolves, Ursas, Nevermores, even Griffins are part of this black army of darkness. There are even huge Goliaths stomping among them like the juggernauts they are.

"T-That is one heck of a horde…" Artemis stated in shock as she cocked her weapon.

"They weren't kidding about the amount of Grimm…" Io stated, her weapons charging up.

"It's like a sea of black… of shadows…" Heim muttered in fear, "It's worse than all the previous waves combined…!"

"Then we shall become greater than all the waves combined!" Blaec smirked as he drew out his second pistol.

"Officer Heim!" Copper called out, "Get all of your troops to ready every major artillery weapons you can muster! Supply us with cover fire!"

"U-Understood!" Heim stated as he starts calling out orders to the soldiers as they ran towards the towers and the large tanks starts driving towards the gate as well as the prototypes of the new Atlas robotic mechs all starts stomping after them along with the new paladin robot soldiers.

"On three!" Io called out.

"On three go, or after three then go?" Copper asked.

"Three!" Io leaped over the walls with the vents on her gauntlets igniting Burn Dust as she flew towards the hordes.

"…So, one two three go?"

"Just fire!" Blaec shouted at his comrade as he proceeds to open fire at the Grimm, the bullets completely blowing up the Beowolves' head with each shot. Copper complied as he fired rapidly at them with much vigor with the bullets flying and destroying the dark creatures in a hail of steel.

Io at this time is rushing through the hordes of Grimm with her fists blazing with Burn Dust and completely obliterating every Grimm that stood in her way. With every punch, a blast of flame is shot from her bracers and burning the Grimm down with each hit. Dodging down from a strike from an Ursa, she follows up with an uppercut that dislocated its jaw before roundhouse kicking it into its allies bowling them over.

One of the Beowolves saw this opening in her defence and tries to charge at her, only to get blocked by Artemis jumping towards the fight with her axe ready and smashes it through its head before she swings her huge weapon all around and obliterating every creatures that came in contact with her weapon's huge axe head. Her swing was so strong that the gust generated from the movement sent most of the Grimm flying.

All those that manages to move past them were shot down by the gunfire of every current soldiers that are at the walls at this point as well as the first preys of the new mech suits of the Atlas military as they fired at them. The robotic army follow suit with gunfire on the Grimm closest to the wall as they slowly march forward as one synchronised unit. The soldiers on the walls assisted them with bullets from their own rifles as they tries to kill as much Grimm as they could.

Blaec carries on firing from his twin pistols as some Beowolves manages to jump passed the line of robots and are somehow crawling up the walls of the outpost. As one got up in front of him ready to strike him down, he stuck both pistols' muzzle into its mouth and fired, completely decimating its skull allowing its lifeless body fall down on some of its comrades knocking them off the wall in the process. Knowing that several has overcome the wall and is attacking the soldiers, he keeps one of his golden pistol and drew out a cyclone knife by the name of Lilith which unfolds its curved blade as he threw them at the attacking Beowolves, cutting most of them down from the spinning weapon as he kept his silver pistol and draw out his broadsword, Grimm Reaper.

With a mighty swing, he slashes the ones closest to him cleaving it in half before following with a series of swings that cuts down the Grimm that were around him that ends with a one handed downward cleave of an Ursa, "Annnnndddd… Pose" before catching the returning cyclone knife above his head. Blaec slipped the cyclone knife into his coat and sheathes his sword just as a King Taijitsu, a large snake with two heads on both ends one black and one white, slithers up hissing at him, he replied by giving it the flip as he drew his pistol and fired it at the head, it exploded on impact.

"Take that." He smirked turning around to handle the other Grimms, not noticing the white head of it slithers up hissing, before ready to snap at him. It that froze, as its head sliding off of its neck before landing on the snow below. "Took you long enough."

"I have a mental breakdown, what do you expect?" Raine asked as he lands behind Blaec with both swords drawn.

"Is it bad?"

"A disaster is more like it."

The Beowolves growled out at him as the Griffons flew around them ready to take them down, "Sure hope Jason is having better luck." Raine pointed out.

"Come on, it's Jason." The older male laughed, "He's always have the worst luck."

* * *

"Why do I always have the worst luck?" Jason groaned, a figure of a large black wolf in front of his group, it howled out into the sky.

"You did spill your salt at the table this morning-"

"Shut up, Silver!"

"And that was last night, Silver."

"Not now, Medea!"

* * *

_To be continued…_

**And there! Done! First part of this mini arc! What do you think?**

**It was kind of hard to show off the real relationship between Raine and Nexus here, since this is during a mission and a place for close bonding. And the fight scenes are sure subpar as I have little idea how to write a real brawler fight in a large horde of monsters as it is difficult to really write out the fighting choreography of Monty's in words.**

**But still, I'm going to try my best with the next chapter.**

**And now, omake time!**

* * *

Spring Break: Weiss and Moon

Weiss sighed blissfully as she looked up at the starry sky from her hot bathtub. She is currently at one of her many vacation homes at one of the islands in Atlas waters, one that she frequents due to the fact it is the only one that isn't in her father's control, and away from his eyes and ears. The flower petals float around in her huge bath as she scrubs her skin, enjoying this moment.

"It's been a while since I have time to myself…" She sighed, "No energetic kid, no teasing blonde, and no perverted swordsman. Just me and my relaxation staff…"

She sunk into the water below holding her breath, before surfacing with a breath of bliss as she laid down on the bath floors. She has such a rare peaceful rest period and she is going to enjoy every second of it.

That was until the door to the bath was knocked on a few times.

"Weiss…? Are you in there?"

The quiet voice of her cousin bring up a little annoyance, but she refused to let it stop her from relaxing.

"Yes, I'm in here, Moon." She replied back.

"Mind if I come in?" Moon asked.

"Of course." Weiss stated, hearing the door opened. Moon stepped behind the folding board, her silhouette revealing her slowly removing her clothing, "Have you finished revising?"

"I have, and thanks again for inviting me here." Moon stated as she took a towel to cover herself.

"It's no big deal." Her cousin stated, "Despite the name difference, you are still a Schnee. It's only natural that you are invited here."

The green-eyed Schnee proceeds to lower her body into the bath, her towel behind her, "It's just… I always thought you never really liked me…"

"Huh? Why would I not like you?"

"Because Winter never really liked me…"

Weiss flinched at the name of her older sister, "Winter's a little… she isn't really a loving person to being with…" She stated, "You know how my dad's like. She probably got that from him."

"I guess…" Moon sighed a little, before noticing Weiss looking at her chest, the noticeable bumps appearing on it, "W-Weiss…?"

"You… have…" She stated before feeling up her own small bumps, "…How do you hide them…?"

"Huh? I always wore bindings." Moon stated, "It's easier to move than with a bra and it hold them better in a fight."

"What size are they…?"

"I think… B-cup…?"

Weiss slumped on the side of the bath dejected, "It's not fair… I thought you were a fellow flattie…"

"I-It's not that good…!" Moon stated, "I mean… compared to Akai and Yang…"

"I have nothing…" The heiress moaned, "I'm not even a proper A-cup… Even Ruby has bigger bust… and she's two years younger…"

"Don't worry!" Her cousin tries to reassure her, "I'm sure you're just a slow growth! Winter have big boobs, so you might have a chance when you're older!"

"Winter was a C-cup when she was our age…"

"…"

"…Do you think it is milk…?"

"Has to be."

* * *

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**


	17. Chapter 15

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

**Chapter 15 The Strongest Huntsmen**

* * *

Let's rewind time a little shall we?

* * *

After they split up the group into their respective posts; Jason, Medea and Silver all left the outpost into the snowy mountains of Atlas. Their feet scrunches on the snow as they trek along the white forest, their white fur coats fluttering slightly against the harsh cold winds with the snowstorm circulating around them.

"Man, the snowstorm is pretty bad…" Silver stated.

"Atlas is called a snowy fortress for a reason." Medea stated as she tries to cover her eyes from the blowing white pellets hitting her hood.

"It's been a while since we have a mission in Atlas." Jason said with a smirk, leading the group through the snow-filled grounds, "Keep a look out. The Grimm near the borders are mostly aged, and the lack of visibility are going to be in their advantage."

"Ah, right. Because they have no need for normal senses, right?" Silver added.

"Jason, do you have any idea what we're looking for…?" Medea asked.

"An alpha." He stated, "Beowolves, Ursas, any kind. Considering the amount of Grimm, it must be an Ancient-type."

"Wait, aren't Ancient-types the strongest of the bunch, the omega-alpha?" Silver asked, "Aren't they supposed to be crazy strong?"

"They are, which is why they are able to call upon such a horde of Grimm." Jason nodded, "Many outposts have fallen due to the hordes they brought with their presence. One of them took at least an army of an army of an army of Huntsman to take down. Even then they couldn't even kill it, only seal it away."

"How would you know?" Silver asked.

"Because we, me and Medea, are the few that survive that."

Silver blinked in shock, before getting his mind in gear and carries on walking after them. "So… what do an Ancient-type Grimm looked like?"

"Big, sometimes bigger than a Goliath." Jason stated, "But considering the region, I say it would be the size of the largest tree in this forest."

"True, the steep slopes and mountainous terrain does make it difficult for a large beast to move." Medea stated, "As for type… it has to be four legged for balance, fur-coat for the cold… anything come to mind?"

"…how about a wolf?"

"A wolf?" Jason asked.

"A really… big… wolf…"

Everyone looked at where Silver is looking, a large black wolf half the size of a Goliath looking down at them growling and staring down at them with its glowing red eyes through its white skull-like mask. They blinked, before pulling out their respective weapons as the wolf howled out into the heavens

"Why do I have the worst luck…?" Jason groaned.

"You did spill your salt at the table this morning-"

"Shut up, Silver!"

"And that was last night, Silver-"

"Not now, Medea!"

* * *

Which brings us to the present time.

The wolf charges towards them, crashing through the trees as they leaping out of the way. Silver then proceeds fires a charge of Dust at it, but the large Grimm simply brushes off the attack and lunges towards him as the white-haired man leaped out of the way of the attack again and proceeds to leap towards it reeling his arm back for a strike. The wolf swipe its paw at him which sends Silver flying across the snowy forest and into one of the trees hard.

Jason rushes towards it with his sword as he pulls his trigger and hits one of its legs with a blast of Dust. The limb, however, is not even damaged as the wolf swing its head that clashes onto his armoured arm with him blocking it and manages to hold his footing although he is pushed back a few feet. He jolted his weapon as its blade segments out and pulls the trigger a few times as the blade glows red before proceeding to swing his sword up releasing a crescent wave of energy that hits the neck of the black wolf, the beast growled out in anger before rushing towards him, each step causing a mini quake as it lunges forward to bite Jason.

It was then pushed back when a large glyph of white appears in front of him, Medea, with a gesture of hands, causes glyphs in the design of a crescent moon to appear behind her before it fired a blasts of red at the large beast, it flinches slightly as they hit it hard on its body and limps, causing Glyphs to appear on it that seems to restrict the beast's movement. "That's what you guys get for attacking without a plan!" She called out to them.

"That's a big Grimm…" Silver groaned as he got back up, cracking his neck before popping his shoulder joint back in place with a loud crack, "Is this the Ancient-type that we're looking for?"

"Seems that way." Jason stated as his blade segments retracts back, "Must be a new-born though. It's not using any real tactics and there's not much white on it accept the eye mask."

"That's a new-born?!" The white-haired Huntsman shouted, "Man, I'm afraid to see a mature-one."

"Even so, it would tricky to take down." Medea pointed out, adjusting her rings on her fingers slightly, "It's fast for its size and its skin is tougher than the shell of a Deathstalker." Jason proceeds to fiddle with his armour, catching her attention, "Don't, Jason." She tells him, "Especially here in the mountains."

"Good point, we won't want an avalanche." Jason sighed.

"Why does Jason's armour would cause an avalanche?" Silver asked.

"Ah, you're relative new Silver so you probably don't know." Medea stated, "Let's just say that removing that armour is a terrible idea to begin with."

"Why?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

"In any case, we'll need to lure it out of this forest." Jason stated, the wolf growling at them as it continuously pounds on the glyph shield, "The large trees are blocking it from us but it's the same for us as well."

"Not only that, I can't really go full out with the sloped terrains." Silver stated, "And the soft the ground is really making it difficult to get a proper footing."

"Well, at least the snowstorm ended." Medea pointed out, "So, what's the plan?"

"We can lure it out to outside the outpost." Jason said, "It's a pretty huge open area and we can count on them to give us cover fire."

"So, hit-and-run?"

"Hit-hard-and-run."

"That, I can do." Silver smirked as he discarded his coat, "Let's do this shit!"

Medea with a flick of her wrist and fingers, she blasts the wolf off the glyph before they proceed to take a run. It got up on its legs shaking its head a little to get rid of the snowy on his head, before roaring out in rage and gave chase after them. While the three huntsmen and huntresses weaves through the trees and leap over the roots, the large Grimm just simply charges through them, the trees all toppled over and broken from its large body. It then took a leap, soaring over them before landing in front of them with a mighty growl.

Silver leaped towards it yelling and lands a solid hit from his shotgun-club on its head, stunning it before landing a strong kick on its forehead, crashing it into the snow hard. The herculean Huntsmen then lands on the snow and follows after his two companions who ran pass the monster in the distraction. The wolf growled silently before giving chase once more.

"It's gaining on us!" Silver cried out.

"Medea, push it back!" Jason commanded.

Medea moved her hands around in small gestures, more glyphs appeared behind her before but instead of small blasts of red, they fired beams of yellow that pushes the head of the large Grimm back slightly before few more glyphs appeared over her. She smirked as she raised her arm with a spear of white aura is formed, and with a swing of her hand it fired straight at Grimm, it spearing through the wolf's back hard. It growls out in pain halting on its steps, before the energy spear shattered with a shake of its body.

But by this time, the three of them are well ahead of it.

* * *

Back at the outpost, the Grimm breach is slowly being contained. The legions of Beowolves and Griffon are the first to fall, both Copper and Blaec are able to keep them from advancing past the walls. Raine is able to slay the ones that manages to get passed them, his blade ending them before they can really cause any damage.

Outside the walls, Artemis and Io are able to eliminate large Ursa Majors hordes at the time. The forest girl even to manage end a King Tajitsu with a swing of her large axe.

The soldiers posted there all took their part in covering the huntsmen and huntresses, they firing their rifles and mounted machine guns at the sea of black and red and killing most of the monsters or distracting them long enough for one of the huntsmen and huntresses are able to end them. Their artilleries all manages to damage the Goliaths too, the new Paladin-mechs all laying huge damage to the enormous Grimm with their build in weapons. Even the new drones are taking down hordes of Beowolves within minutes at the time.

Even so, the Goliaths are a major problem towards them. Without the proper weaponry, they have little chance of taking it down.

Artemis cleaves through another Ursa Major with her axe, before a Deathstalker crawls up to her and tries to sting her with its stinger, but she points her weapon to the ground and fired the rifle part that sends her into the air avoiding the stinger completely. She then with cocks her rifle as the front axe-head slides down the barrel to cover the magazine and the back of the axe slides over the muzzle and attaches itself on the top of the axe-head to form a sword blade, one that she readies to strike as she pulls the trigger and she is send barrelling down towards the large scorpion and stabs through its shell before pulling the trigger once more, causing it to explode within itself into pieces as she somersaults away.

Io took advantage of this and charges towards the corpse before sending the yellow stinger flying with a punch from her, the boosters from her braces blasting full force that sends it flying through one of the Goliath's head via its eye, killing it instantly as the mammoth drops on its knees and collapsed on the army of Grimm. "Man they just never end…" She stated as she took a ready pose.

"I think the numbers are thinning through." Artemis stated cocking her rifle.

With the guys, Blaec just fires a headshot through one of the many Beowolves as he extract his sword from a dead Griffon, an alpha tries to get the sneak on him only to get its head cleaved through by said sword. "Any word from Jason's team?"

"Negative." Copper stated as he continues firing at the group of Grimm in front of him from below where Blaec is standing. Soon, his gun produces the infamous click of the lack of ammo in its chambers, he clicks his tongue before the weapon folds itself in and taking the form of a long single-edged sword which he proceeds to stab an Ursa's head through with. His other hand than switches into an automatic shotgun and he took out a Beowolf with a shot to its head that completely obliterates it.

Raine cries out as he charges through the enormous horde of Beowolves leaving behind afterimages of him in blue aura, slicing and dicing through them with ease with an occasional discharge from his electric sword, before skidding to a stop passed them, "Same here. What's taking them?"

"Don't know." Blaec said as he took out another Griffon with another headshot from his pistol, "Maybe they run into the main boss and is fighting him."

"Considering his luck, it's possible." Io laughed as she punches an Ursa's head clean off.

"As long as they fight far away from us, I'm okay with that." Artemis stated as she stabs her sword through one of the King Tajitsu's heads.

At that very moment, a loud rumble is heard. Most of the people fighting stopped to look towards the snowy forests, including the Grimm creatures. At that moment, a large black blur is seen barrelling across the snowy plains before skidding to a stop. The black wolf slowly growled, before turning towards the outpost and letting out a loud howl, the other Beowolves all howl together with it.

"That's… a big Grimm…" Io stated.

"An Ancient-type." Copper pointed out, "More specifically, it's the one documented under the name: Fenrir. Largest Grimm of the Mantle continent. My records states that it is extremely aggressive despite the age and equally destructive. One such beast nearly destroyed the entire Kingdom of Mantle overnight and it took almost the entire Kingdom's forces just to push it back."

"Any idea how they did that?" Blaec asked worriedly.

"They just… blast it non-stop."

"That's pretty simple-"

"Three days straight without pause."

"…I take that back."

"We're doomed!" One of the soldiers cried out in anguish, "There's no way we can push it back with our current forces!"

"Can we ring for reinforcements?" Another asked.

Heim shook his head, "That's not going to work. We'll be decimated before we can send out a proper distress call. We're on our own…"

"NO!"

"It's over!"

"We're all finished!"

"Calm down!" Blaec shouts out, "If you start despairing now, it will only make things worst!"

"Then what can we do?-!"

"Have faith." Raine stated, just as all of team NEBL and Jaune all manages to get to the main defence, "Jason will stop it, I'm sure of it."

"That's true." Io stated with a grin.

"He will do it, he always find a way." Artemis smirked.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Are you kidding me?" Blaec smirked, "We're talking about Jason here. There's no Grimm that has been too tough for him."

"And we have Silver and Medea too." Copper stated, "In my data- I mean… my memories, there has been no foe the three of them can't defeat. After all, they are…"

"""""The Strongest Huntsmen!"""""

At this point, a large tanned blur is seen flying towards the Fenrir, "Aaaaaannnnnnnddddd, FIRST BLOOD!-!" Silver shouts out as he swings his club right at one of its back legs, it bending in the opposite direction from the impact. He then lands under the large beast before, "SHORYUKEN!" he follows up with an uppercut to the belly of the beast, and knocking it up on its back legs before it fell over due to its injured limb.

The white haired berserker lands down on the snowy plains, just as Jason and Medea arrives at the scene discarding their coats. "So, what's the next step, leader?" Silver asked cracking his knuckles excitedly.

"We end it like we always do." Jason stated with a smirk as the large wolf slowly get back on its feet, "Team, initiate maneuverer Herculean Finisher."

"Got it!"

"And the rest of you, mind keeping the others busy for a while?" He asked them.

"You got it!" Io called out.

"Just finish that thing off!" Blaec called out.

"Yeah, take that wolf down!" Raine shouted out.

"With pleasure." Jason says with a grin as he extends out his sword.

Medea waved her hands around as her rings glowed before with a finger to the air fired a stream of purple up to the sky, forming a large mystic circle over the Fenrir which that proceeds to fire down large pillars of energy on it hard, it flinching and stumbling with every hit. Silver then took a leaping lunge at it with raising his club up in the air before swinging it down hard on its head, knocking it into the snow hard once more, with the impact cracking the skull armour.

"And another!" The white haired berserker followed with a swing to the side of its head, sending it flying and rolling across the plain hard. It slowly got back up growling slightly. "And now, the finale!" Medea shouts out as she summons out several glyphs towards the large wolf. "Jason, now!"

"Thank you!" He smirked as he runs up towards the floating glyphs, before shooting through them like a bullet. He proceeds to tinkle with his armour as the plates of metal dropped off of him with a loud clank. His eyes glowed with power as he switches his weapon into his left arm, before veins starts to bulge from under his skin. "Here we go…"

"Ah crap!" Raine cried out as he ran towards Jaune and NEBL, "Jaune, your shield, now!"

"A-Ah? Oh! R-Right!" Jaune quickly pulls out Crocus Mors and extended out the white shield in front of him, Raine and NEBL all took shelter behind him.

"Take cover!" Blaec called out as the rest of the Dark Wings and the soldiers ran behind buildings and often the city walls.

"Everyone, brace yourselves!"

"JASON IMPACT!" Jason yelled out as he lands a straight hit from his weapon, the blade glowing bright red before his sword blast an enormous blast of energy that envelopes the entire beast in a huge beam of light. The Fenrir Grimm roared out in pain as it is slowly incinerated into black ashes. However, the attack was too immense that the backlash of it created a large burst of wind towards the outpost. Thankfully, Medea manages to block some of it with a barrier of glyphs that took most of it and prevented the walls from collapsing.

Soon, the beam slowly dissipates, leaving only the crater of its presence and the charred remains of the Ancient-type Grimm.

The soldiers all got out from behind the walls, Jason sighed in relief as he stretches out his arms, "Ah~ nothing like a good fight to warm up!"

"Warm up… warm up, he says…" Heim stuttered as he collapsed against the wall feet shaking.

"Man that was close…" Raine sighed, "Are you guys alright…?"

"Yeah… somewhat…" Nexus groaned, the rest of his team nodded groggily.

"Ah…now I know why that armour of his is always on…" Silver nodded shakily.

"Absolute Strength." Medea pointed out as Jason walked back towards the outpost picking up his armour pieces along the way, "That's the name we gave to Jason's semblance. It's like it implies, the ability to overpower anything regardless, the absolute turnabout. It can't be blocked, diverted or defended. Anything that it hits is almost completely obliterated. But it is too powerful, so we sealed it in the armour around his arm."

"But he's already pretty strong without his semblance, right?" Silver asked, "Then, isn't the seal pointless?"

"He's always been this strong and skilled." Medea sighed, "He's the type that does best in practical situations but worst in when come to academic problems. Why do you think I did most of the paperwork…?"

"Ah, true that."

* * *

_To be continued…_

**There we go! Finished this! Finally…**

**Sorry I haven't upload in a while, had a new job and all and the shifts are tiring and long.**

**But I don't have a night shift anymore which is great!**

**Anyways, the spring holidays arc is ending soon and we'll bring back up to more canon stuff. Also, one last question before I end this.**

**Who among my characters do you guys ship with? Both canon characters and OCs. Just curious and it might help with who ends up with who throughout the series.**

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**


	18. Chapter 16

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

**Chapter 16 Brotherly Feud**

* * *

After the battle, they all gathered at the main military quarters of the base for the last debriefing. Heim thanked the Dark Wings for the job well-done and is already calling up the Atlas military for their payment. After a few more reports and the proposed few days for the job, they left the building by late afternoon.

"Man, I'm hungry…" Blaec groaned.

"Me too…" Artemis moaned.

A loud roar is heard for a moment, they all turned to Io who blushed holding her stomach, "I-I guess we could use a late lunch…"

"Don't you mean early dinner?" Silver asked.

"Isn't the proper term tea-break?" Copper asked.

"Let's just go get some food, okay…?" Jason sighed.

"Then I know the perfect place."

A voice spoke, team NEBL standing in front of them waiting along with Jaune and Raine. "We'll treat you." Nexus stated.

"You don't have to, Nexus Sapphire." Medea said politely.

"Just consider it my payment for the job." He stated, "It was me that recommended you guys after all."

"You didn't need to pay, really." Jason stated, "Helping Raine's brother is like helping out a friend."

"Just let him pay." Raine growls, "Make it payment for the debt he now owes me."

"It's an on-job accident!" Nexus cried, "There's even insurance for that so stop bugging me with it every five minutes!"

"Well, if you have taken a lot more care into maintaining your weapon, then you don't even need this mess! And I wouldn't need to re-design your weapon from scratch!"

"Then just use the old blueprints! The same one could work, right?!"

"And let you destroy it the same way, again?!"

"Okay, okay, people, let's all calm down." Leona stated as he separates the two brothers, "Why don't we talk this out like proper men over some munchies, how about that?"

"Hmph!" The two brother huffed turning their heads away from each other while Nexus walked ahead. The rest of the team groaned as Raine followed after him grumbling silently. Jason walked up to Bliz worriedly, "Are they…?"

"They have been like this since this morning." She tells him, "I guess Raine doesn't like the fact that the weapon is completely obliterated like that."

"At least he's not trying to kill Nexus with wrenches." Eve laughed dryly.

"Yeah, they cut through the sides of the walls like butter." Leona stated.

"That doesn't seem physically possible…" Copper pointed out.

"Trust me, Copper. Anything is possible with a raging teenage boy." Blaec chuckles.

"Anger, or hormones?" Artemis asked.

"I can still hear you!"

"Anger, Artemis. Anger."

…

They all made it to a small café/bar where they all have their own meals and drinks, Silver and Blaec devouring into their meals like hungry animals with lots of slurping and chewing. That leads to having both Eve and Bliz a little disgust over the lack of table manners. "You'll get used to it." Medea stated, popping a spoonful of stew into her mouth.

"I don't see what the problem here is." Artemis stated as she proceeds to bite off a large chunk of a leg of meat in her hand, "Mi bean, iz mot that itz a manci mestruam."

"Swallow before you speak, Artemis." Io chastised the younger female.

"Speaking of being rude…" Leona turned to the two brothers, both of them not facing each other eating their sandwiches, which are the same cut and type with the exact same ingredients in the exact same amount. They glanced at each other, before turning away with a huff.

"…How long are they going to brood over a broken weapon…?" Jason asked.

"It's more obliterated than broken, honestly…" Eve stated.

"Yeah, I saw it." Jaune pointed out, "It's beyond repair. And Raine did mention it cost several million Lien to make…"

"Wow… that's definitely going to grind some gears." Medea muttered.

"But still…" He turned to Nexus, "Nexus sure isn't like what Raine says about."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Eve asked curiously.

"Well… when we first met, he talk quite a bit about him. About how cool he is, how he really wants to be like him…" Jaune stated, "He made it seems like he's one heck of a huntsman, one of the best. But now…" He pointed at the frown on Nexus' face, "I'm not so sure."

"Nexus is… um… how should I put it…?" Eve muttered, "…Quirky…?"

"More of reckless if you ask me…" Bliz groaned.

"He is a badass, don't get me wrong." Leona stated, "He is just… a bit of an idiot."

"Huh?"

"That sword he uses?" He pointed out, "It was broken because he was trying to defeat a Goliath as fast as he can and overloads it, thus the explosion."

"Why in the hell did he do that?" Copper asked, "With enough firepower and the constant attacks from the soldiers, he can overwhelm one quite easily."

"You need an entire campaign of soldiers from the entire Kingdom to take one down like you said." Bliz stated, "The reason he said was that-"

"They don't need to know, Bliz." Nexus stated.

"Yeah, I bet he does it because it seems cool." Raine rebutted.

"At least I know I can be cool." The older brother stated, "Unlike a certain someone."

"What was that?!"

"Now, now, you guys…" Leona pats the both of their shoulders, "Let's not make more trouble for the bar owner now."

"Tch!" The two clicked their tongues before turning away with a frown.

"Man-children…" Bliz groaned.

* * *

After their short meal, they decided to take a walk around the outpost for some R&amp;R with NEBL leading them. "And this area is the shopping district." Leona explained, "The soldiers usually get their stuff here. From basic necessities to just something to dick around for."

"That would explain the cosplay shop over there." Medea stated pointing out that said shop.

"But this is an outpost, right…?" Jaune asked, "Why would they need a shopping district…?"

"Well, from what have gathered, this outpost is the border between Atlas and Vale." Bliz stated, "It is positioned right smack where the two CCT towers doesn't overlapped, thus needed a small tower to ensure communications."

"That, and it is the only outpost that serves as the border transition between the two nations." Leona stated, "Didn't Professor Oobleck mentioned that your classes yet?"

"W-Well… he is pretty hard to follow…" Jaune nervously chuckles.

"That's Oobleck for ya." Jason chuckles.

"…Jaune, was it?" Eve stated as she turned to face him as they continued walking, "What team are you in? Who's your leader?"

"Me… um… I'm part of team JNPR and… well… I'm the leader…"

"Really? Pardon my bluntness, but you don't look the part." Leona stated.

"Yeah, he doesn't, does he?" Jason laughed.

"We could say the same to you." Blaec pointed out while Medea and Io giggled slightly at his shocked face.

"Oh yeah, I reminds me!" Bliz pointed out stopping turning to Jaune, "You guys have Pyrrha Nikos in your year right?! Do you know whose team she's in?"

"A fan, are you?" Silver chuckles.

"Well, yeah!" She nodded, "She's one of the best of our generation! I've heard that she has never lost a match with her aura pretty much unscathed!"

"Huh… she's that amazing…?" Jaune muttered.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?-!" Bliz shouted pointing her finger at him accusingly, "Pyrrha Nikos is a huge celebrity! The entire world knows her name! She's beautiful, mature, and even well-mannered! She's like a warrior goddess!"

"Goddess, huh?" Raine chuckles, getting the senior's attention.

"What's funny about that?" She asked irritated.

"No, just… she is pretty amazing, but I wouldn't exactly call her a goddess."

"Raine, don't be jealous just because she is gifted." Nexus stated, Raine growling in retaliation.

"Nexus, that was really not cool." Leona stated, "That's your own brother."

"Raine always have hated prodigies." He stated, "It's mostly an inferiority complex."

"Compared to you?" Eve asked.

"Even so, it's your brother, your family that you just insulted." Bliz stated angrily, "You need to apologize."

"There's a reason I didn't want him on this mission." Nexus added, "He's not skilled enough. He's not even a proper huntsman! He could get killed out here!"

"He'll only get in the way."

*SMACK*

Nexus was then sucker punched on the cheek by a gloved fist, Raine's gritted his teeth as his fist left a bright red mark on his brother's face. He froze in shock, before he looked down at the younger brother angry, "WHAT THE HELL, RAINE?!"

"Asshole…"

"HEY! I wasn't the one that punch me without warning-" He then notices, the streams flowing down from his eyes, leaving his eyes widen in horror, "R-Raine…?"

"FUCK YOU!" Raine round-housed him in the neck, sending Nexus onto the ground hard that it cracked a little. The younger brother then left in a flash of blue, just as the older brother got back up feeling his sore neck as he saw Raine ran past a corner.

"W-What was that about…?"

"Nexus, that was idiotic." Eve huffed.

"H-huh? I-I'm not the one that decked me without warning!"

"I agree with your girlfriend, Nexus." Leona pointed out, "You shouldn't have said that."

"Yeah, that's mean, Nexus!" Bliz stated angrily.

"H-Huh-Why are you all ganging up on me now!" He cried out.

"Raine looked up to you." Everyone all looked at Jaune who glared at the Nexus, "He told me that you are what he wanted to be. And that he wanted to stand alongside you, to be on the same footing as you. He wanted to be someone that you can depend on."

"He… said that…?"

"He was always singing your praises, you know." Jason stated, "He recorded your matches in the Vytal Festival and re-watches them as much as he could before entering Beacon."

"Yeah, and it got boring real fast." Artemis stated.

Nexus looked down on shame, as he rubbed his prostatic arm, "He told us about that arm, you know." Io stated.

"He did?"

"He did?" Silver asked curious.

"He did." Medea stated, "He told us that it was his fault that you lost that arm in the first place. Seven years ago, you were tasked with a small Grimm extermination mission, solo. Raine, wanting to prove himself, decided to chase after you and tries to help. During the fight, he was caught off-guard by a Beowolf and was nearly killed until you arrived and saved him, at the cost of your arm."

"After you guys returned," Jason continued, "You were patched up, and Raine was blamed for everything, to nearly costing your life, and nearly ruining your future career. He never wanted this to happen and was guilty of it ever since."

"Whoa… so that's how you lost your arm?" Leona asked.

"That's rather heroic of you." Eve stated cuddling up to Nexus.

"I-I… I told him that it was okay…" He stated, "That it wasn't his fault."

"But he felt it was." Blaec stated, "It really shows. Back when he was still a part-timer, he would make stupid mistake that nearly cost the mission and his own life. Trying to protect someone when he couldn't protect himself, take on a hordes and hordes of Grimm when it was too much to handle alone, a lot of times we have to pull him out of situations half-dead."

"He was thrown into a coma once, too." Artemis groaned.

"A-A coma?!" Nexus cried out in shock, "W-When did that happened?! W-Why wasn't I've told of this?!"

"Well, we never told anyone about this anyway…" Jason chuckles, "It's not that big of a deal, he was just knocked out for a couple of days that's all."

"H-How did he-?"

"Fought against an endless hordes of Grimm with no rest." Medea stated, "He passed out the moment the rest of us came to his rescue."

"But it was incredible." Io stated, "By the time we get there, all the Grimm were killed. Despite bleeding all over, wounds on his entire body and broken limps, he still defeated all of them. I have never seen such ferocity in a single person before."

"I… see…" Nexus muttered, "He… really have grown strong…"

"He has." Artemis stated, "In one way or the other, he has proven his worth as a fighter and a true Huntsman."

"Raine never ran from a fight." Blaec added, "He never depended on any of us and stood right next to us in any mission. He even sneaked on whenever there's a mission available. He was stubborn like that."

"Wow… Raine really have worked hard to get where he is…" Jaune stated.

"Yeah… he truly has…" Nexus muttered, "And I totally insulted that hard work of his."

"You should go after him." Copper pointed out, "My data-er… I mean, experience has shown that it is easier to apologize right after the argument. And it is easier to forgive as well."

"Y-Yeah… you're right…" Nexus stated as he ran off.

"Do you even know where to find him?" Medea called out.

"I think I do!"

* * *

Raine, at this point, is just sitting on top of one of the walls, near the harbour where the airships are flying back and forth as the sun starts to set over the horizon. He has his knees close to his chin while his eyes just staring at the ships that are docking and leaving the port, the winter breeze passing him by. "Nexus… stupid…" He muttered, tears start to leak from the corner of his pupils as he hugged his knees closer.

"I knew you would be here."

He flinched as he heard his brother's voice, said teen climbing up to where Raine is sitting. "You always come to look at the ships whenever you are upset." Nexus stated chuckling slightly, "That old habit of yours never changed."

"…" Raine remained still ignoring him as the older brother took a sit next to him.

"You always loved looking at the ships back at Patch." Nexus stated, "Whenever mom brought us out and just happened to past the harbour, you would just stop and stare." He snickers. "You wouldn't move for almost hour."

"…"

"Seven years, huh…"

"Hm?"

Nexus continued, "Seven years since our parents' death. Seven years since we officially became members of the Hunter Clan. Time seems to just fly away." He looked down at his mechanical arm, "A lot of happened. From your enrolment into Sanctum, to my win at the Vytal Tournament, we just have a lot in our lives."

"Nexus, where are you going with this?" Raine asked.

"I'm just saying that…" Nexus let out a small sigh, "We haven't really have much of a heart-to-heart talk the past few years. I guess all this time, I kept thinking you as that little boy from all those years ago."

"Yeah, I noticed." Raine grumbled.

"Your boss has told me a lot of your successes." Nexus stated, "To completely decimate an entire horde of Grimm all by yourself, it sure is amazing."

Raine's eyes widen slightly as he looked up from his little ball, "…Yeah, it was."

"But then you broke your entire body doing so."

"Ha ha, oh yeah…"

"…You sure have changed a lot, Raine." Nexus stated, "You have become strong. I mean, that was a mean punch. The kick was a little overkill though."

"Yeah, I guess that was uncalled…" Raine nervously chuckled.

"Not really, actually…" The older brother stated, "I kind of deserve that. I said some stuff that I shouldn't have said."

"…Yeah…" The younger brother sighed, "…It really hurt, you know. That part you said that I'm only get in the way."

"Did it now…?"

"It hits hard. It just reminds me of that day…" Raine stated, glancing at Nexus' robot arm, "…I got on your way and it led to THAT."

"Raine, it's not your fault." Nexus stated, "I was caught off guard, that's all!"

"But I was the one that caught you off-guard!"

"You were just a kid-"

"No, I was weak! That's what I was, that's what I am!" Raine cried, "…I'm weak… I'm always be weak…"

"That's not true." Nexus sighed looking up at the now night sky, "When I first came to Beacon, I have seen a lot of strong future Huntsmen and Huntresses. Even some that surpasses me. There are lots of monsters there. Most of them are just not there most of the time due to the missions."

"If those are monsters to you, then they are gods to me…"

"You know, when I won the Vytal Festival, it was a hard-won battle." He added, "We hardly won the team battle, the doubles match were just by the skin by our teeth. And when I finally won the finals, it was a miracle by itself."

"What's your point…?"

"That you can achieve anything with hard-work." He stated firmly, "Yeah, you might be weak then, but you have worked hard, and you have shown results."

"Not much to show, though…"

"Honestly, Raine, you have become strong." Nexus stated, patting his head gently, "And I'm sorry for insulting you. You are definitely not a sidekick."

"…Donuts…"

"Huh?"

"Get me ten bags of donuts and I'll call it even." Raine muttered.

"…Ten bags…?"

"Bags of dozen."

Nexus looked at his younger brother bugged eyed, before breaking into laughter, "Even seven years haven't stopped your love for that sweet snack, huh?"

"Damn hell, it hasn't!"

"Language, Raine."

"Hey, I'm 17 and I can say whatever I want!"

The two brothers continues to bicker a bit, but both have the freest smiles on their faces.

…

_To be continued…_

* * *

**The brothers finally at good terms with each other. Sorry for the lack of good drama and the tension is resolved too fast.**

**Drama was never my good point. I'm thinking of getting a beta reader for future chapters…**

**The filler arc is ending soon, and I may enter Volume two soon.**

**Also, I decided to try something for the future of this fic.**

**Who do you want to see shipped together?  
Besides the ones that are obvious like with LIGT. Canonxoc or ocxoc are welcomed.**

**Let me know in reviews and I might write those into the script for Volume two and maybe Volume three.**

**With that, I thank you for reading this!**


	19. Chapter 17

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

* * *

**Chapter 17 Return to Beacon**

The sun shines down on the grounds of Beacon Academy, the airbuses all slowly docking in as its passengers all slowly flood out. It is the day before the start of the new semester and the students are returning early in preparation for the next quarter of their school year.

In one airbus, the two sisters Ruby and Yang arrived at the school with their bags on their backs. Yang, however, is a little grumpy at the moment.

"Come on, Yang…" Ruby groaned, "You can't stay angry at Raine forever, you know…"

"I can, and I will!" Yang huffed, "He didn't even call me at all this break! I even sent some many messages!"

"I think you scare him off with the amount of messages you sent…" Ruby muttered.

"Hey, you sent a lot too, Rubes."

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"Good to see you sisters had a good break." Weiss said as she and Moon walked up to them with their luggage in tow, though Weiss has less than what she brought home.

"Hey, Weiss! Had a good break?" Ruby asked.

"It was relaxing." She sighed, "But Moon's father can be a little…"

"Overprotective." Moon sighed, "I came back home and the first thing he did was have a medical specialist perform a check-up on me! Then he starts asking if I'm okay, if I was bullied, then starts to check my Scroll for any boy's numbers. Then proceed to delete said numbers…"

"Didn't dad did the same thing to you, Yang?" Ruby pointed out.

"Yeah, but I took back the phone before he could do any harm." The blonde bombshell chuckles.

"I see you guys have a pleasant week." Blake said as she, Pyrrha and Ember all arrived with their bags on their backs.

"Blake! Pyrrha! How's your week?" Yang asked.

"Pretty good." The ninja Faunus stated, "I have quite a relaxing time in Mistral."

"She spent most of her time nose-deep in books." Ember explained, "I kind of forced her out of the room most of the time. Except for that one time when Raine visited."

"I kind of needed his expertise for my weapon…" Pyrrha stated.

"Good I nearly forgotten I was angry at him." Yang grumbled.

"Huh? What did he do?" Ember asked worriedly.

"Yang just sent so much text messages but he never replied them." Ruby stated.

"Well, you obviously scared him off." Weiss stated.

"He could at least replied one!" The blonde brawler shouted angrily.

"How many did you send…?" Pyrrha asked.

"Just a few dozens…"

"Isn't that… kind of overkill…?"

"It's a pretty normal number…"

"Is it?" Ember asked, Blake shrugged her shoulders.

"What's up, sisters!" Nora called out as she skipped up towards them with Ren and surprisingly Akai on tow.

"What's up, Nora!" Ruby replied back with equal vigour, "Fun week?"

"Heck yeah!" The hammer-wielding huntress shouted, "But that's until they took away Magnhild and everything became boring… then Ren starts to make pancakes and everything is back to being awesome!"

"She was playing whack-a-mole in the backyard with a real mole." Ren explained, "And was destroying a lot of garden gnomes."

"Oooohhhh…" They all nodded in understanding.

"Then… why is she with you guys?" Ember asked.

"We met at the airport." Akai stated, "Sun went off with his own team and left me at the harbour the moment we enter Vale."

"So he ditched you."

"Pretty much sums it up, yeah."

"Looks like most of the gang are here!" Nora said cheerfully.

"We only left our leaders." Ren stated, "I wonder what's keeping them…?"

"Maybe they got lost?" Ruby asked.

"Ruby, Raine lived in Vale all of his childhood, well… most of it anyway, I doubt even he could get lost." Yang pointed out.

"We probably should put our stuff away first." Pyrrha stated, "They would probably arrive in the afternoon."

"That would be wise." Blake nodded, "We'll wait for them afterwards."

"So… meet up at the courtyard afterwards?" Ruby stated, they all nodded before making their way towards the dorms.

* * *

A couple of hours later, another bullhead arrived onto school grounds, this time out stepped team NEBL along with Raine and Jaune with their luggage in tow. Although, Raine is wearing something different, a black turtleneck jacket under a red vest which has tailcoats that extends from the back to his knees with his usual pants and boots. He is also lacking the blue strand on his bangs.

"I can't believe I have to wear your old clothes…" Raine groaned as he panted on the vest, smelling the jacket before reeling back in disgust, "Do you even washed these…?"

"What can we do?" Nexus shrugged his shoulders, "Your luggage was ruined when Blaec and Jason threw up on you and your bag."

"Before puking on you again the next morning." Eve muttered.

"I think I can still smell the puke…" Bliz groaned pinching her nose.

"What?! I washed so much that I used up three whole bottles of shampoo and soap!" Raine cried sniffing himself before regretting it as he nearly choke on the smell of his clothes. "Okay, seriously, Nexus, did you wash your clothes at all?!"

"I did, okay!" He cried out before muttering, "…once or twice… in a month…"

"Oh god why?!" Raine cried out, "That's it, Jaune, give me your spares!"

"But aren't mine too big for you?" The blonde knight asked.

"That doesn't matter anymore! Just give me your spare hoodie or something!"

Jaune dug into his bags and only took out a hoodie, the same hoodie he is wearing under his armour with a cutesy rabbit face on the front.

"…"

"…"

"…Never mind, I'll keep wearing this piece shit…"

"Hey! It's not that bad!" Jaune cried.

"I'll rather die than wear… THAT." Raine groaned, "Again, first the onesie now this? You have the weirdest taste in clothing, Jaune."

"Okay, first of all, my taste is just fine." The blonde knight argued, "And second of all, the hoodie was packed be my sis. How was I supposed to know that it was that?!"

"So it's your sis'?"

"No… it's mine…"

"…I said my piece." Raine sighed as he moved his bag around his shoulder, accidentally getting a whiff of the jacket and nearly choking on the stink.

"Hey now, I don't stink that bad!" Nexus shouted angrily.

"Actually…" Raine muttered before putting his bag down and taking off the vest and smelling it, "It has quite a fishy smell… almost like…" Before he realized and tossed the vest to the ground in disgust, "Oh god, are these your roleplay clothes…?!"

"…um…"

"Eva is really into a lot of things…" Eve uttered.

"OH MY OUM!" Raine shouted out as he took off the jacket immediately leaving only a grey singlet on his toned chest, "Don't give me your bedroom clothes, you dick!"

"That's actually the cleanest of the bunch-"

"Stop! Stop! I don't want to hear about the escapades in the bed, please!"

Jaune looked at his scroll and notices the time, "Ah, crap! Raine, we took too long!"

"Oh sweet honey ice tea!" Raine cried out as he picked up his bags and starts to dash through the courtyard, "I'll call you when its' done!"

"Hey, wait up!" The blonde paladin chase after his friend leaving behind dust clouds with every step.

The team of NEBL all looked at the two freshmen running towards the dorms in the hurry, amusement creep up their faces as Nexus grew a small smile at the running form of his younger brother. "You have the proud parent look, Nexus." Leona smirked.

"Do I?"

"Definitely." Eve nodded with a smile.

* * *

The next day, it was the weekend before the next semester and the campus already filling up with its students coming back from their break. It is also the time when the students from the other academies are arriving too in preparation of the Vytal Festival near the end of this semester in fall.

It was this day that Yang decided it was a good day to take a shopping trip into Vale with all them. Both team LIGT and BLAZ just returned as well but they were too busy unpacking their bags to follow them down. So it was just RWBY, JNPR and RAEM this time around, wandering through the shopping district.

"Well then, we been to the fifth clothing store which you guys bought… nothing." Raine pointed out.

"You think that we would find the perfect look from just any store?" Yang accused.

"No, I'm saying that you should just look through the clothing instead of wearing every one that you could combine with." He stated.

"Well, at least we got SOME clothes." Blake said, with a couple of bags in her hands, "I think it was a worthwhile trip."

"Not yet!" The blonde called out, "Not until I bought something!" She then took off into another clothing store with her poor sister in tow.

"Hey, wait up!" Weiss called out as she chased them into the store, "You better pick something decent this time!" Blake rolled her eyes tiredly before following her.

"Oh Yang…" Raine groaned.

Ember examined his leader a bit, him wearing a couple of clothing he bought a few store back. "Decided on a new look, Raine?" He is wearing the same vest as before but a plain sapphire blue jacket over it and the same pair of pants and boots as well.

"Nah, I'm just wearing this until my others are being altered." He pointed out.

"I'm still surprised that you lost much of your clothing." Akai stated, "What happened over the break?"

"A lot happened, right Jaune?"

"Yeah, a lot…" Jaune nodded.

"Man, when you arrived without your shirt on." Nora laughed, "The looks on everyone was priceless! Ice queen was even drooling a bit! I think Moon did too…"

"I-I most definitely not!" Moon cried out blushing.

"You definitely did." Ren nodded.

"Definitely." Akai agreed.

"Hey, there's a café further down." Pyrrha stated, "Do you want to wait for them there?"

"Yeah! Let's do that!" Nora shouted, "I'm starving! I hope they have pancakes~!" She took to a quick sprint with Ren following behind sighing slightly as they rest of them follow suit at a slower pace.

As they took their seats, Raine opened up his scroll to send a message to Yang about their current whereabouts. It was then he noticed a mail in his inbox. Curious, he opened it up, only to regret it as it shows a nude Eva in a rather scandalous position. "GAK!" He immediately closed his scroll in shock.

"Is something the matter?" Pyrrha asked.

"O-Oh, n-nothing…" Raine uttered shakily.

Nora took this chance to snatch the scroll from his hands and opened it up to show the nude pic, "Oh~ Scandalous~"

"H-Hey!"

"Raine, there's a time and place for this kind of thing." Ren pointed out.

"T-This isn't…"

Ember took the scroll back and looked at it, "…Huh? I didn't know you into older woman." Moon took a peek and have her face blushing beet red.

"Give that back!" Raine cried as he took back the scroll, "The picture wasn't mine. Someone sent it to me."

"Yeah, perv." Akai said angrily, Moon still frozen and shaking slightly with her face red as a tomato.

"T-This isn't…!" He groaned before looking at the address of the mail, "…" He slammed his face on the table hard once he saw it.

"Raine…?" Moon looked over her leader worriedly.

"Leave me be, Moon…"

The café door opened ringing the bell as team RWBY enters with a couple of bags in their hands, "Finally… we are… done…" Ruby moaned in agony as she sits down on the table slumping on it, "Can't believe we went through all of that just for one outfit…"

"As a member of the fairer race, Ruby, you need to understand the need for proper clothing for certain occasions." Weiss stated.

"Yeah, sis, you didn't even have a dress." Yang pointed out.

"Why would I need a dress…?" Ruby asked, "I'm a Huntress! Not some fancy lady!"

"I believe the term is etiquette, Ruby Rose." Akai pointed out, "Huntsmen and Huntresses are often employed by the rich for certain tasks. Thus, keeping a formal dress at hand is good planning."

Ruby groaned as she looked down at the menu, Yang then notices Raine still have his face flat on the table, "What's up with him?"

"No clue." Ren stated, "He just received a nude pic of some mature lady and-"

"Wait, WHAT?!" Weiss cried out.

"Raine?! What the hell?!" Yang cried out in shock, "I know you are an open pervert but to get a one-night-stand within a week?!"

"It's not like that!" Raine cried out in shock.

"Then why in hell would you get a nude pic?!" The blonde shrieked.

"…it's complicated…"

"Then IT IS a one-night-stand!"

"No it's not!" He screamed out, getting the attention from the other customers who are all staring at them, before he glared at them, "WHAT ARE YOU GUYS LOOKING AT?!" They all returned to their own business at that shout. He huffed before sitting back down crossing his arms.

"I see how they are cousins now." Moon pointed out.

"Yup, their temper are definitely hereditary." Ember nodded.

"So, why did you have a nude picture?" Blake asked.

"It was sent in the mail, by a certain friend of mine…"

"Friend…?" Yang asked.

"Huh? Who would send-ooooohhhhhh…" Jaune closed his mouth in understanding.

"You know who it is, Jaune?" The blonde bombshell glares at him angrily.

"Huh? U-Um…" He glanced at Raine, his friend glaring holes into him, "N-No…?"

"Hm…?" Her eyes narrowed at that, obviously not believing his lie.

"L-L-Look, Y-Yang…" Jaune stuttered, "I can't say it, I won't."

"And why wouldn't you…?"

"U-Um…" He gulped as he saw the lilac eyes turn red in her slowly building up rage, "It was a girl we helped out during the break!"

"Jaune you traitor!" Raine cried out.

"Hey, you try getting stared by her!"

"So you admit it!" Yang stated angrily, "To think that you ignored all my messages all for some random girl you bang over the break!"

"WHAT?!" Raine shouted before recoiled in disgust, "Oh hell no!-! She and I am not like that!"

"Then explain the nude pic!"

"That's-!" His scroll then rang all of the sudden, he opening up to see the Nexus' number on it. He groaned slightly before answering, "Hello."

_[Hey… Raine… Sup…]_

"Nexus, what's with the pic you sent me?"

_[Ah… Well… I was just going to sent you the picture of the sword you repaired to assure you that it is find but I kind of… tap the wrong one.]_

"Look, just sent me the picture already and not another nude pic…"

Just as Raine was about to end the call, Jaune's scroll rang. Confused, the blonde knight opened it to find another nude pic, this time a peek photo of Bliz in the shower, causing him to blushed redly, "WHAT THE?!"

"Huh?" Raine took noticed of the pic and immediately went back to his scroll, "WHAT THE HELL, NEXUS? NOW BLIZ?-!"

_[Okay, that was not me this time.]_

"Wow, those are some knockers~!" Nora pointed out, "Not as big as mine or Pyrrha's though. But her hips does stand out." The red Spartan unconsciously felt around her hips, feeling a little inferior and envied the figure of the girl.

_[Found out who sent it. It was Eva.]_

"Her, of course…"

Jaune then got another message, this time saying: [If lonely use this.] "WHAT THE HELL?!"

_[Don't worry, we manage to snag Bliz sroll back from her. Eva, stop trying to set her up with anyone!]_

_[But she needs to get laid! Besides, she is totally is interested! You should have heard her a few nights back~!]_

_[You eavesdropped on me?!]_

What followed after that were sounds of stuff breaking, before followed by footsteps stomping in the background before the phone call cut off. Raine looked down at his scroll in confusion before pocketing it, "Well… that's that, I guess…?"

"So… Eva?"

"Eva." Raine answering Jaune question, the both of them sighed tiredly.

"Eva?" Yang asked curiously, "And wait, was that Nexus on the scroll just now?"

"Oh yeah." He nodded, "His team requested us to help them with something up north so that's where we went. Oh, and Eva is his girlfriend, well, one half of the whole anyway."

"Oh…" Yang nodded, before her eyebrow raised up in even more confusion, "Why would he sent you her nude pic?"

"It was accidental." Raine's scroll then rang, before pulling it back out again to show Nexus' sword fixed with the exception of a new cylinder in a shade of dark silver and the back of the blade has additional metal plating. He then shows Yang the picture, "See? He was going to send me this."

"O-Oh…" She nodded dumbly, before blushing in embarrassment, "S-Sorry for accusing you like that…"

"Nah, its fine." He shrugged it off, "I would have come to a similar conclusion if you have a pic of a nude male on your scroll."

"Hahaha, that's true."

The both of them laughed it off, their teammates plus JNPR all chuckles a little as well, "For a moment there, I was afraid that a fight might happen." Pyrrha stated.

"You two were pretty much at each other throats." Ember pointed out.

"Ahem!"

They all turned to their side, a waitress staring at them with a standard customer friendly smile but the side of her mouth is twitching ever slightly, "If you don't mind, may you please keep it down and don't make a ruckus here."

"Oh, sorry about that." Yang tells her with a bright smile, "We'll try not to make too much noise."

"That would be appreciated."

She walked off with a tired sigh as the rest of the group sighed in relief, "It would be a shame that we were kicked out before ordering anything." Ren stated.

"Ah right, we haven't ordered anything yet!" Jaune stated before waving his hand up for the other waiters and waitresses around. Raine on the other hand got another message from Nexus, saying that he is leaving tonight for a special mission, that he wouldn't be at Beacon for a couple of months but will be back in time for the summer holidays.

Raine gave a heavy sigh of disappointment, "What the matter, Raine?" Moon asked worriedly.

"Oh, nothing…"

* * *

After the shopping trip, along with a few detours thanks to Nora and sometimes Ruby, they manages to get back to campus by sunset. The moment the moon is up, and everyone is asleep, Raine sat by the ledge of the rooftop with a distanced glance to the shining lights of Vale's night streets.

"No night missions tonight?"

Jaune walked up to him from behind, his weapon set by his waist, "You know, I never did get my exclusive Creed weapon this break."

"Crap, I knew I forgot something…" Raine groaned face-palming in agony, "Sorry, it just been really busy, with Nexus, and your training with Jason…"

"Nah, it's cool." The blonde knight laughed it off, "Just the idea of having an exclusive weapon for me has gotten me kind of excited." He then took a seat next to him, "So… no sparring tonight."

"No sparring tonight." He stated, "Wouldn't want Pyrrha blaming me for exhausting you before the first lesson started."

Jaune shrugged with a dry chuckle leaving his lips, before noticing his expression, "…Hey, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, just…" Raine sighs, "…Nexus is leaving for another mission tonight."

"Another one?" Jaune looked surprised, "Didn't he just came back from one? Why would he take another one so quickly?"

"Dunno." His friend shrugged his shoulders, "Just he wouldn't be back till probably summer holidays."

"I see…" Jaune sighed, "That's a shame. I kind of like him." He then gets it, "Ah… you missed him already, huh?"

"Wha- no!"

"Come on, it's natural." He added, "I missed my sisters from time to time. Ruby is lucky that she got Yang around."

"Yeah, that's true." Raine laughed, before looking up at the stars, "I guess I am a… LITTLE lonely without him." Jaune gave him a raised eyebrow, finding his answer not satisfying enough, "Okay, fine, I missed him. Happy now?"

Jaune just laughed, Raine groaning slightly, "I kind of want to show him how much I've grown… That I'm not his precious little bro anymore. That I am ready to fight as a Huntsman."

"I know how you feel." Jaune stated, "There're times I wanted to show my parents that I can do the things I've set out to do. And that I can be a Huntsman, despite what they say. And to tell my sisters that I am a man worthy of my destiny."

Raine chuckles before raising his fist up, "To younger brothers."

Jaune chuckles along and raised his fist as well, "To younger brothers."

They bumped their knuckles together, "…Well, it getting late, better head back to our rooms." Raine stated as he walked towards the door, "Good night, Jaune."

"Good night."

They both went back to their rooms, anticipation for the new semester boiling in their hearts.

…

_To be continued…_

**Done! Finally, finished with this chapter! Sorry for taking so long, almost a year since I posted the last one. Just that life have been keeping me busy. And the writers' block on how to end this chapter. With this finished, I can finally move to Volume 2.**

**Also, Volume 4 finally ended. It wasn't a bad volume, but not a particularly good one either. Not much development and story for certain characters that needs them but introduction of new characters are okay and meh. Except Kali Belladonna.**

**Best RWBY mom of the year!**

**Kind of wished that we get to know more about Raven though, despite the ONE scene we got. ONE! Just a little more on her would be nice!**

**Besides the point, I want to thank those that stuck by this story up till now. Sorry for the long delays but life… what can you do?**

**With that, I thank you all for reading this!**


	20. Chapter 18

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

* * *

**Chapter 18 Best Day Ever!**

The sun shone brightly from above the bustling city of Vale, its streets filled with people from all walks of life. Some eating their meals at the nearby cafes or dining at the many restaurants in the district, many shops opened with their goods ready to be sold to their customers.

One of this shops is a Dust shop named [From Dust Till Dawn]. A pun-worthy name, but it says a lot about the shop's long opening-hours. However, it was closed for a few months for renovations from a break-in and the owner, an elder man with quite a reputation for being able to work as any odd jobs possible, has just decided to open the shop the next day.

He was just putting up the banner for his grand re-opening, before losing his balance as he was climbing down and falls off the ladder with a loud thud. He groaned slightly as he heard a soft giggling next to him, a young girl in dark skin and red eyes with mint-green hair looking down with him with a smile on her face. She wore an intricate white top over a olive-green cropped undershirt that covers her breasts alone along with white pants and brown chaps that end at her calves with a pair of high-heel boots.

"Excuse me, sorry. I'm not really from around here…" She proceeds to help him up on his feet before producing a small slip of paper and showing it to him, "Would you mind pointing me in the direction of this shop?"

He read the address, recognising it and nodded with a smile. Telling her the directions she requested, she left with a wave of goodbye as the old man went to keep his ladder, before feeling a little light around his pockets, "Oh dear, did I drop it…?"

Ways ahead, the same girl walked passed a young man with whitish-grey hair and grey eyes in a grey and black two-toned jacket partially unzipped with armour around his shoulders and biceps along with black trousers and a grey bandanna tied to his waist along with pair of black shoes under what seems to be a pair of greaves with bullets around it. "I knew you were lost." He scoffs.

The girl then walks back with a wallet in her hand with a few Lien notes poking out of it, "Mercury, I will seriously pay you shut up."

"That's not your money."

"But it can be yours for _five_ minutes of silence~"

Mercury pondered on it, before shaking his head, "Nah. No deal."

"…fine…" She growled as she took money before tossing the wallet to the floor and walking off.

"Whatever, you want me." He chuckles as he followed after, "So, how much further?"

"A few blocks down." She stated.

He groaned slightly, "This place is so dull…"

"Eh, I kind of like it." She stated, "Tall buildings, diverse culture…"

"And nice, dopey people who are easy to pickpocket." He added with a grin.

"That's EVERY city." She said proudly.

"Ooh! Emerald! Master thief!" Mercury fake-begged, "Please don't take my money! I barely have enough to get by!" Emerald glares at him angrily, before walking off as he sighs in disappointment, "Ugh… you're no fun today…"

The two continues on with their way to that shop, before Emerald spoke up, "Hey, Mercury?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Do you think that hiring Vento is a good idea?" Mercury shrugs his shoulders, "I mean, sure he can get the job done but at of the day, he is just a hired gun…" She explained, "He could turn on us with a flip of a literal coin."

"Nah, I've heard that Vento is pretty loyal to those that hired him." He stated, "He's the type that loved money but values loyalty above all else. He'll never tried to turn on us."

"Hope so." She mutters before reaching their destination, the shop Tukson's Book Trade.

The door opened with a soft creak as they entered, the shop filled with books on the shelves and some in packed cardboard boxes. They can heard some humming along with some voices from the back, Emerald walking up to the counter and ringing the bell.

"Be right there!" A loud voice called out, "Hey, dude, mind sorting out those books into the boxes over there?"

"Got it."

A big man walked through a set double doors with a small huff carrying two stacks of books in his arms, "Welcome to 'Tukson's Book Trade', home to every book under the sun!" He got out before placing down the books on the table next to him as he took some breaths, "How may I…"

He then took notice of the two people in his shop, Tukson lightly gasped. He blinked a little before carrying on, "How may I help you?"

"Just browsing." Mercury stated looking through a book already, before closing the book with a loud bang.

"Actually, I was wondering, do you have any copies of 'The Thief and the Butcher'?" Emerald asked.

"Yes we do."

"Well, that's great!"

"…Do you… like a copy…?"

"No, just wondering." She replied

"Tukson! Which box does the 'Man with Two Souls' goes into?" A voice behind him shouts out.

"The Non-Fiction one!"

"Oh, oh! What about 'Violet's Garden'?" She asked, "In paperback?"

"He got it." Mercury stated holding up said book, "Hardback too!"

"Ooh, the options are nice." She said giggly.

"Eh, no pictures." Mercury groaned as he closed the book shut before tossing it aside, "Hey! Do you have any comics?"

"Near the front!"

"Tukson, why do you have 'Ninjas of Love' in here?!" The voice called out again.

"I was holding on to it for a friend!" Tukson shouts back.

"And 'Fifty Shades of Dust'?! Really?!"

"Hey, you know how the market is these days!"

"Oh, no, wait!" Emerald stated as she glanced at him with an increasing menacing glare, "What… about… the 'Third Crusade'?"

Tukson froze suddenly, feeling unnerved as he notices Mercury looking at him as well, "Um, I… don't… believe we carry that one."

"Oh." Mercury slammed another book shut.

"What was this place called again?" Emerald asked.

"Tukson's Book Trade…"

"And you're Tukson?" She asked again.

"That's right."

"So then I take it that you're the one that came up with the catchphrase?"

"Yes." He nodded.

"And what was it, again?" Mercury asked.

Tukson sighs, "Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun."

"EXCEPT, the Third Crusade."

"It's just a catchphrase." Tukson shrugged.

"It's false advertising!"

"You shouldn't make a promise you can't keep, Tukson." Emerald stated as Mercury slowly lower the transparency of the windows, "I hear you're planning on leaving. Moving all the way to Vacuo. Your brothers in the White Fang won't be happy to hear that." The boy finally closes the last window, "And neither are we… You know who we are, don't you?"

"Yes."

"And you know why we're here?"

"Yes."

"So… are you going to fight back…?"

Tukson grits his teeth as his fingers flexed in their joints. Just as he unleashed his claws, a metal canister flew out of the double door behind Tukson, rolling on the floor to Mercury's feet. Within the next second, it exploded in a loud bang and smoke fills the entire store. Not sure what's happening, a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulls him passed the double door and away from them.

Emerald and Mercury bust out of the store's doors coughing as the smoke starts to fume out alerting the walking passer-by with some of them starts to call up the authorities. Knowing that they have drawn too much attention, the two of them fled the scene as fast as they could.

"Well…*cough* that went well." Mercury stated.

"He must have other deserters with him." Emerald stated.

"So, what's the plan?" He asked.

"We search the area." She stated, "He couldn't have gone far."

* * *

Far away from the crime scene, a manhole is slowly pushed up and away as Jaeger got out and pulling Tukson up along with him. Jaeger then notices the fish remains on his hat, before tossing it aside with disgust, "Come on, this way!" He tells his companion as they exited out of the alley into the harbor, where a ship is ready to depart nearby.

As soon as they reached to the ship, Jaeger pulls out a ticket along with a set of directions on a piece of paper, "Once you get to Menagerie, follow what's on this paper."

"Wait, I told you that I wanted to reach to Vacuo!" Tukson stated angrily, "I wanted to leave the White Fang, not head to their headquarters!"

"Tukson, they know that you are heading to Vacuo." Jaeger tells him, "They'll have people there waiting there." Tukson groaned as he continues, "Listen, Menagerie is certainly White Fang central, but I have a contact there who would keep you save and out of sights from the White Fang. You'll be safer there."

"…Fine… I did hire you…" The Faunus took out a wrapped paper from his pocket, which his hired gun pocketed, "This is the fee you requested. Its most of the savings I have from the store. Not that I would need it now…"

"Relax, you'll have a fresh start at Menagerie." Jaeger tells him patting his shoulder in reassurance. Tukson nodded before boarding the ship. The bounty hunter left the area pulling his hat off and proceeds to wipe off the grime, "That's last time I'm going into the sewers…"

* * *

At Beacon, it is almost the start of the new semester. All of the students just have the morning assembly and have rest of day to rest up and prepare of the classes starting up tomorrow. Team RWBY, JNPR, RAEM and LIGT all seating around the same table as they eat their meals with some just playing around. One that is not is Blake, she deep in her notebook with a series of notes and questions for herself, mostly the White Fang in mind.

She spent most of the days of her break just reading up on the White Fang and news reports on their current activities. She can't get the nagging feeling in her head that the White Fang and Roman Torchwick, a HUMAN criminal of all people, is joining hands on something that she doesn't know what.

And the recent rise in Dust robberies in Vale hasn't quell her anxiety either.

She knows that someone is pulling all of this, but for what she couldn't figure out.

"Whatcha doing?" Yang asked sliding up to her, Blake jumped slightly in shock.

"N-Nothing…" She mutters as she closed her notebook, "Just going through some notes from last semester…"

Yang pauses to catch a grape into her mouth, "Lame."

On the opposite end of the table Nora giggles as she load up her spoon with another grape before firing it at the blonde again, she catching it in her mouth with ease, giving her a thumbs-up. On the other end of the table, a snoozing Raine was hit on the head by a pea that was tossed at him by Torque, the mouse Faunus chuckles slightly.

"Man, he's completely out-cold…" Ember stated.

"He did returned back quite late last night…" Moon pointed out.

Torque is aiming a spoon-full of mashed potatoes at the leader of RAEM before he was stopped when Gamma got the spoon out of his hand. It was during this time which Ruby with a huge heave, slams a large white binder onto the table hard, waking Raine up almost immediately before he falls off his seat and onto the hard floor. "Ow…"

"Ahem!" Ruby clears her throat, "Sisters… Friends… Weiss."

"Hey!"

"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream."

"I bet she doesn't even know what a score means…" Ember whispered, just as Raine got back on his seat and was greeted with plonk on his head courtesy of Torque's pea.

"A dream that one day, the four of us will come together, as a team, and have the most fun anyone has ever had… EVER!"

"Did you steal my binder?" Weiss pointed out.

"Do you even need a binder?" Raine asked.

"Not that kind of binder, Raine." Moon stated.

"I stand by what I said." That leads to Akai slapping the back of his head.

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked.

"I'm talking about kicking off the semester with a bang!" Ruby called out.

"I always kick off my semester with a YANG!" Everyone at the table groaned as Yang gives a thumbs up, "Eh? Guys? Am I right?" She then gets an apple to the head along with a boo from Nora.

"Look guys, it's been a good week and between more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great!" RWBY's leader added on, "But, classes start back up tomorrow! Which is why I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today."

"I was planning on resting the rest of the day in our dorms." Raine stated, "And maybe clean up my swords, draw up some plans, sharpen the blade…"

"I don't know… I might sit this one out…" Blake stated.

"Sit out or not, I think that however we spend this last day, we should do it as a team." Weiss pointed out as she got up, "I for one think that-" She then got a pie plastered onto her face.

Nora looked in shock before sitting back down and pointing at Ren in hopes of drawing the blame away from her, her friend just palmed his face in agony while Jaune and Pyrrha looked at the snow princess in shock. Torque uses this chance to throw another pie, which splats onto Moon's face this time.

The table was silent, before a face-splitting grin appears on Yang's face, knowing what's to come next.

* * *

Outside of the cafeteria, Sun is walking along side with a young boy in blue hair in an undercut and dark blue eyes. He wore a red jacket with an up-turned black collar under a white shirt with black tie, black pants and shoes with straps instead of laces and fingerless gloves on his hands and belts on his forearm. A yellow-tinged goggles strapped on his forehead.

"Man, that's harsh…" He stated.

"I know, after this guy managed to stop this other guy from attack me, we fought side by side each other." Sun stated, "She was super fast and I threw a banana at the guy, which sounds gross, but it was awesome!"

"_Nice_~"

"I know, right?!" The monkey Faunus agreed excitedly, "And the best part is, she's a Faunus." He then realised that he just blew Blake's secret by complete accident, "But that's a secret, alright?"

"Got it."

"And not a, 'I'm gonna go tell Scarlet the second Sun turn his back secret'. I'm talking SECRET secret."

"Whoa, whoa, chill out man, okay?" The guy stated, "I got it, I got it."

"You better." Sun stated, "She's have a friend that can cause explosion with his fist! I wouldn't want that guy angry at me for any reasons."

"Dude… that's sounds rough." He stated, "But I guess that means she's taken, huh?"

"What? No way, man!" The blonde Faunus shouted, "I've asked Akai the same thing, and she said that they more of a friend-friend kind of situation."

"So, friend-zoned, you mean."

"No, Neptune! I mean friend-friend!" Sun stated, "They are just friends! Nothing more, nothing less!"

"Relax, relax, man! I know what you mean, yeesh. Can't take a joke?"

"Sorry." He stated, "I'm just a little stressed out. I don't want to screw this up, you know? The people here are the coolest!" At that point, unknown to them, Jaune was slammed onto the window hard, "No offense to you guys."

"None taken." Neptune nodded, "And I kinda want to meet your friend Akai too. She's hot, right?"

"Yeah she is, but don't even try." Sun warned him, "She's asexual and aromatic, she'll only get annoyed if you try anything."

"Buuuuttttt, she's hot, right?"

"Dude, be cool!"

"Come on, dude." Neptune posed in front of him with his arm crossed, his teeth gleams as he smiles.

"Good point."

As soon as they opened the cafeteria doors, all the students ran out screaming, "FOOD FIGHT!" The two of them looked at the scene in front of them with both excitement and horror.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Nora laughed diabolically standing atop stacks of tables, "_I'm the queen of the castle~ I'm the queen of the castle~_"

Ruby stomped on the table with a carton of milk in her hands, "Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful!" She crushed the carton in her hands, "It will be DELICIOUS!" The rest of the team cheered on with gusto.

At this point, team RAEM and LIGT are hiding behind some overturned tables. "How did this go wrong so fast…?" Ember groaned as Moon cradles her legs with pieces of pie on her head.

"Man, I've heard of food fights, and then there's this." Leaf stated pointing at the pure carnage of food as weapons, "Why would there be a swordfish in a cafeteria?!"

"And did Yang just launched into the sky by a watermelon?" Akai stated, before pausing, "Oh wait, Nora's wielding it."

"I didn't know the baguettes are this hard." Raine stated as he picked up said bread, before knocking on the floor hard and actually dents it. Everyone stared at the dent on the floor silent before he tosses the bread into the carnage behind them.

"So… what now…?" Gamma asked.

"There's a trick that father taught me when up against such situations." Moon stated, everyone leaning up to listen, "…run." Everyone groaned, she looking at them in confusion, "W-What's wrong with it?! It's a perfectly sound strategy!"

"How do expect to do that with THIS?" Ember asked as he points at the grenades of soda cans that are flying towards RWBY. One of them landed onto Raine's head, "Oh, grape soda." He says happily as he opens it, only for purple soda sprays out of it and drenching his face in the sugary drink.

It was then they heard what seems to be things splashing onto the wall, before they peeked from under their barrier of tables. On the wall is team JNPR along with an assortment of all the food in the cafeteria splattered all over them and the wall behind them. A few seconds later, they falls off the wall with a thud.

"I love these guys." Sun stated proudly, his friend not so much with some of the food on his face and clothes.

The doors behind them slammed opened as Glynda walked up them brandishing her whip with a slight growl coming out of her throat. She then proceeds to activate her semblance, the tables and rubbles all rolling back into place with quick succession. "Children, please…" She said angrily as she adjusted her glasses, "Do not play with your food!"

"Is it over?" Raine asked completely drenched in soda, just as Nora burps loudly. Everyone bursts out laughing at how ridiculous everyone looks right now, just as Yang falls through the roof and crashes into Ember with a loud thud.

"Let it go." Ozpin tells her placing his hand on her shaking shoulders.

"…They're supposed to be the defenders of the world…" She stated.

"And they will be, but right now they're still children." He tells her as Yang got off of Ember as she helps him up on his feet, "So why not let them play the part?" He then walks away, "After all, it's not a role they'll have forever."

* * *

In an old warehouse, White Fang goons are moving the crates around just as Emerald and Mercury walked passed them towards the one in-charge of this little operation, Roman Torchwick, who welcomed them in a way only befits him, "Oh, look! She sent the kids again!" His laughter dripping with sarcasm as he walked behind them with a hug, "This is turning out just like the divorce!"

"Spare us the thought of you procreating…" Emerald shudders in disgust as she and Mercury pulls themselves away from his grip.

"_That_ was a joke, my dear." Roman chuckles as he walked back to his table, "And THIS," He pulls out the same paper Emerald have on her, "JUST might tell me where you two have been all day."

"W-What?!" She pats down herself, finding that it is indeed gone.

"I'm a pro, sweetheart." The criminal winked, "Pay attention, you might just learn something." As he read what was on the paper, his cheery façade dropped to a more serious mood, "Why do you have this address?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Emerald said smugly.

"Yeah, I would." Roman said his anger rising, "Now, where have you been all day?"

"Cleaning up your problems." Mercury added, "ONE of them, at least."

"I had that under control…"

"Two packed bags and a ticket out of Vale said otherwise." He added.

"Which he probably used to get out!" Roman shouted, "If it's up to me, you little punk, you and that street rat friend of yours will be-"

"Will be _what_ exactly, Roman?"

A young woman walked onto the elevator as it lowers down, she have black silky hair with burning amber eyes in a red dress with a slit up her right thighs with a flower accessory by her hip along with crystal beads on her right ankle black glass high-heel slippers which make a clink with every step she took.

"Uh… not be killed by me…?" He chuckles nervously at the newcomer.

"Cinder!" Emerald cried out happily as she walked up to her, Cinder walked passed them towards Roman her eyes blazing in power.

"I thought I have made it clear that you would eliminate the would-be runaway." She tells him.

"I was GOING to…"

"HE was going to escape to Vacuo!" Emerald stated proudly, "Mercury and _I_ decided to take it upon ourselves to kill the rat."

"I think he was some sort of cat actually." Mercury pointed out.

"What, like a puma?"

"Yeah, there ya go."

"Which you have failed terribly." Roman pointed out, the two looking at him angrily, "Don't look at me like that. I'm not the one that got half the district up in a panic."

"What do you mean?" Cinder asked.

"Well, if only _they_ would have keep their mitts to themselves, Mr. Tukson probably wouldn't have disappeared!" He shouted angrily, "Thanks to them, I can't find heads or tails of him anywhere in Vale, _meaning_ that he most likely have flown the coop right about now!"

"H-He's making that up!" Emerald shouted.

"Quiet!" Cinder shouted, the young girl flinched back in fright, even Mercury gulped in fear, "Did I not _specifically _instruct you two to keep your hands clean while in Vale?" Roman pointing at them with a mock laugh.

"I-I just thought…"

"Don't think. Obey." Roman once again mocked them with a slit throat gesture.

"…Yes, ma'am…" Emerald muttered, "It won't happen again."

"And _you_…" The criminal stopped mocking as Cinder glared at him, "Why wasn't this job done sooner?"

"Um… Eh?" Roman pointing to the countless of crates filled with Dust occupying the entire warehouse, "Sorry if you didn't noticed, but I've been busy stealing EVERY speck of Dust in the Kingdom!"

"You're an inspiration to every punk with a gun and a ski mask." Mercury stated, Emerald laughing at the remark.

"Look around you, kid!" The criminal pointed everywhere, "I've gotten this town running scared! Along with Siege's cooperation, of course. Police camping out at every corner. Dust prices are through the roof! And we're sitting pretty on an abandoned warehouse with more Dust crystals, rounds and vials then we know what to do with!"

"You know, if you're in an abandoned warehouse, you should all keep your voices down." A voice echoed, everyone got ready to battle except for Cinder and Roman. Vento, from above one of the crates, leaped down and landed hard in front of Cinder, "It's pleasure to finally meet you. I've always wondered who my employer will be." He chuckles as he circles around her mesmerized by her natural beauty, "To think a fine lady like you is it."

"I'm flattered, Vento Laranja." Cinder stated with a smile.

"And that voice!" The mercenary sighed in delight, "Oh… it's like the song of the angels!"

"Would you please stop do that?!" Roman shouted angrily, "Geez, when I've heard there was a hired gun-"

"Mercenary." Vento pointed out, "The job name is mercenary. Hired gun is just bad advertising."

"I don't know." Mercury shrugged, "Hired gun fits you perfectly."

Vento glares at him as he gets up to his face, before breaking out in laughter, "I like you kid!" He laughed patting him in the shoulder, "You got zest! I like that!"

"I'm not sure to be thankful or disgusted…" He grumbles.

"Vento Laranja." Cinder spoke, "I like thank your help for up till now. You definitely set out to achieve what we expected of you."

"Oh, lady. You're making me blush."

"But sadly, you services aren't needed anymore."

"Oh? So my job is done?" Vento asked curiously.

"We specifically requested you to defend and assist Roman Torchwick in his operations as long as he is required." Cinder added, "And he has done as required."

"So we're done with Dust?" Roman asked, "O-okay then… what now?"

"We're moving." She tells him, "Have the White Fang clear out this building. I'll sent you the details and coordinates tonight."

"Coordinates?"

"We're proceeding to phase two." She stated, before looking at Vento, "Fear not. Your payment has already been added into your bank account. You will compensated for everything you have done."

"Alright, that's what I like to hear!" Vento said happily as he walked off, "Whatever your plans are, hope you succeed!"

As soon as he left the warehouse, Roman looked at her confused, "Why would you dismissed him?" He asked, "Despite being just a hired thug, his skills are world-renowned. It would be a shame to let go of just a big asset."

"Despite all that, he is just that: a hired thug." She stated firmly, "He'll turn sooner or later." She proceeds to walked off with Emerald and Mercury close behind her.

Roman sighs as he took a cigar and when he goes to his lighter, he finds his pockets empty. A familiar ting is heard as Emerald shows him the stolen lighter alight, before sticking her tongue out at him and closed it.

* * *

Out on the streets, Vento walked along the warehouse district with a distinct hop in his steps. He was then stopped by a man in the middle of the road, he wore a black military coat altered that it reaches to just halfway down his knees with a hood over his head, dark brown leather greaves around his wrists and black boots. On his back have the symbol of an upside-down cross with a laughing skull at the cross-section.

The two stared down at each other, before Vento smirks as he continue walking and passed by him. After a few steps, he looked back to see the man gone. He chuckles a little before dialing up his scroll. After a few rings, the other side picked up.

"Hey, Ozpin. Sorry, I couldn't earn her trust." Vento whispered, "No, I don't know what her plans are. I got fired before I got a chance to ask."

* * *

_To be continued…_

**OH! Second chapter in two days! I'm getting my groove back! So there, finally into Volume 2! I have many plans for this, and I've completely cut the food fight because… well… I doubt RAEM will take part in something like that and LIGT is probably the more sensible of the bunch. Also, it would be interesting to have someone comment on the sheer craziness of the fight.**

**So yeah! Done! I hope some the characters are not OOC.**

**So, I've changed some events, like Tukson NOT dying by Emerald and Mercury. I originally wanted Jaeger to happen upon the scene after the crime but I thought it wouldn't fully using him and he ended up as a one-off character.**

**Vento will be an important character later down the road with the future volumes and I hope you will anticipate on it soon!**

**With that, I thank you all for reading this!**


	21. Chapter 19

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

* * *

**Chapter 19 New mission**

Raine stretched his arms up as he and his team walked down the corridor after another exhausting day of class with Professor Port. He appreciated the man's wisdom time to time but his little narcissistic need to complement his glory days can grate on some nerves. "Finally, no more classes for the day!" He sighs happily.

"It aren't much classes today." Moon stated looking at their schedules.

"I guess it's due to all the exchange students we're getting." Ember stated, "But I'm pretty surprised by how many are entering the Vytal Festival Tournament…"

"Of course a lot of people are entering it!" Raine tells them with a smirk, "It's a worldwide tournament that every Huntsmen and Huntresses from all walks of life and races all compete for the title of Champion of Remnant! And it's a biannually thing, of course people are going to take a chance to do so if they could!"

"You know, for a festival about peace, people sure looks forward to a fighting tournament between Kingdoms." Akai pointed out, "I guess no matter in peace times or not, people will still love to watch other people beat the crap out of each other."

"I guess that's what the Mistral Tournament so engaging in the first place." Their fox Faunus friend added on.

Moon put down her scroll before noticing the scenery in the sky, "Guys! Look!" Everyone stopped to look up, fast flying jets flew across the skies as the larger slower airships docks onto the bay before its passengers flood onto campus' grounds.

"Atlas' military never cease to amaze." Raine chuckles, "But the amount of soldiers are kind of intimidating."

"I've heard that General James Ironwood is personally visiting for the festival." Moon pointed out.

"That would explain the amount of troops around campus recently." Akai stated, "You can't exactly keep such an important person unguarded."

"Hey…" Their leader turned to Ember, "Won't this be a slight trouble? You know, you being a wanted criminal of Atlas and all…"

"Oh, don't worry about that." He tells him, "That thing was settled the very moment I was accepted into Beacon. All charges are dropped in account that I finished the entire curriculum. So don't worry about me getting arrested."

"Freeze!"

Everyone turned to see several Atlas soldiers pointing their rifles at them.

"You were saying…?" Raine pointed out, Ember shrugged in confusion.

* * *

At the headmaster's office, Ozpin looked over from his clock tower as more Atlas ships docked down at the bay, accompanied by several fighter ships. "Ironwood certainly loves bringing his work wherever he travels." Glynda points out.

"Well, running an academy and the military makes him a busy man." Ozpin nodded, "But yes, those are a bit of an eyesore. Well, at least it's not the Hunter Clan's ships." The monitor on his table beeps with words [Access Requested] blinking in red, he walking up to it and pressing the comms, "Come in."

The doors slides opened and out stepped a military man of proper stature, his white military coat over his uniform with a white glove on his right hand, his black hair trimmed to standards with an exception of a metal band over his right eye. "Ozpin!"

"Hello, general."

"Please, drop the formalities." James says cheerfully as he shook his hand, "It's been too long." He turned to Glynda with mild surprise, "And Glynda! It has certainly been too long since we last met."

"Oh James!" Glynda waved him off before dropping all forms of joy from her face, "I'll be outside." She then proceeds to leave the room.

"Well… She hasn't change a bit." James chuckles.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Ozpin pick up a mug and a kettle as he pours a batch of coffee, "So, what in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas?" He asked, "Headmasters don't typically travel with their students, for the Vytal Festival."

He offers a mug to him, the general gratefully accepts, "Well, you know I much I love Vale this time of the year." He took out a canteen from inside his coat pocket and pours its contents into the coffee, "Besides, with you hosting, I thought that this might be a good opportunity for us to catch up."

The headmaster pours himself a mug as he seats down by his desk, "I can certainly appreciate the quality time between friends, however, a small fleet outside my window has me concerned."

"Well, concerned is what brought them here."

"I understand that travel between Kingdoms has become increasingly difficult." Ozpin stated, "I've heard that you have Grimm troubles by the Bifrost."

"Oz. You and I both know why I brought those men."

They both remained silent, the headmaster sips his mug before placing it down on the desk, "We are in a time of peace." He tells him resting his arms on his desk, "Shows of power like this are just going to give off the wrong impression."

James places his mug down on the desk as well, "But if what Qrow said is true-"

"If what Qrow said is true, then we'll handle it TACTFULLY." Ozpin tells the general, "It's the Vytal Festival. A time to celebrate unity and peace. So I suggest that you not scare people by transporting hundreds of your troops halfway across the continent."

"I'm just being cautious."

"As am I." He added, "Which is why we will continue to train the best Huntsmen and Huntresses we can. But if that's not enough to assure you…" Ozpin pulls opened his desk's drawer and took out a pendant to show him, the same pendant that Raine possess. The symbol of the Creed of Light.

James knew what that means, "Oz, you're not seriously going to trust in those people, are you? They may have been a great force before the Great War, but they are nothing more than fragments of their original might now."

"Fragments have their own way of fighting, James." He tells him, "Just because they don't have a large army doesn't make them any weaker than yours."

"We don't even know their real agenda." James argued, "What if they are just using you?"

"Their leaders are a close associate from my student years." Ozpin assures him, "We trusted each other with our lives and proved many times over. James, not every war is won through force."

The general is about to argue but then his scroll rang in his pocket. He sighs as he answers it, "What is it?"

_[Sir! We have found and detained a dangerous criminal on campus grounds, sir! We requested that your permission to arrest him!]_

"Criminal…?" James asked confused, just as Ozpin's scroll goes off.

He answers the call, _[Ozpin, Atlas men has detained one of our students!]_ Glynda calls.

"James."

The general nodded, "Soldier, tell me your location."

* * *

Back on campus grounds, a couple of Atlas soldiers pushes back Moon as she tries to reach her partner. Ember right now is struggling against his captor as he is pinned against the wall with both his hands behind him, "Let him go!" She cries out.

"Miss, please step away."

"He didn't do anything wrong!" She cried, "This is an abuse of power!"

"Miss, please! You're interfering with Atlas military operations!"

"You know, you should really update the uniforms." Ember stated, "It really doesn't goes well with the peace-keeping."

"Silence, animal!" He shouted, "I know who you are, Ember Schutz. You really think that I'll not recognize you?"

"Sorry, you Atlas dummies all looked the same to me."

"Ember, just blast that guy away!" Akai called out, "He's just a soldier! You can take him down!"

"Wait, don't!" Raine called out, "Don't fight back! And just keep quiet!"

"Why?! He can take them down no problem." She looked at her partner in confusion, "Actually, I can take them without much notice." She flexed her wrists as her two pistols dropped out of her sleeves into her hands but then he grabbed them before she can aim.

"Are you crazy?! You're going to get us in trouble!"

"Oh, says the guy who beat the crap out of CRDL last semester." Akai scoffed, "And what's there to worry? It's just six guys! And their soldiers! A quick bullet to the head and-"

"They are Atlas military men!" Raine stated, "ATLAS! As in another Kingdom?! What do you think would happen if several Huntsmen from Vale beat down their troops?"

"No one has to know!"

"We're in the middle of campus! As in out in the open?" He pointed to the growing crowd of on-lookers, "Do you really think you can take them down quietly with all those people watching?" Akai grumbled as she raised her hands to him, he placing the guns back before she slid them back into her sleeves.

"I'm the guy that you nearly blew the face off of!" The one holding Ember tells him.

"Really? Because I've blown a lot of people faces off." He tells him, "You're going to have to be a bit more specific."

He then elbowed the Faunus in the back hard, dropping him into the floor before the soldier steps on his head, "Either way, you're not escaping this time." He grins, "But tell you what. If you bark like the dog you are, I'll be gentle in the interrogation later."

"Hey! You can't do that!" Moon shouted angrily trying to push into the scene.

The soldier tries to push her back, but then noticed the man walking towards him, "General, sir!" He saluted, Moon using this window to push through and tackles him to the ground.

"Miss Bellflower?" James walked up to the collapsed soldier with Moon beating on his face repeatedly, "What are you doing?"

"Mr Ironwood!" The heiress got up on her feet ignoring the groaning soldier on the floor, "Please, you have get your man off of him!" He pointed at the soldier grinding his foot on Ember's head. The general grits his teeth as he makes his way towards him.

"Lieutenant!"

The soldiers stops what he is doing, turning back and saluting to him, "What are you doing?!"

"Sir, I'm detaining this criminal for arrest, sir!"

"What criminal?!" James shouted pointing at the groaning Ember as he tries to get back on his feet, Moon and Raine running over to help him up, "All I see is you beating on an innocent student!"

"Sir, that student is Ember Schutz!" The soldier pulls out his scroll to show him the wanted poster. After reading through it, the general groaned, "Sir…?"

"Lieutenant, that information is outdated." He tells him as calmly as he could, "His file was updated several months ago." He pulls out his own scroll to prove it, "See? All charges against him is dropped in the condition that he finish his curriculum. So, there's no reason for you to detain him. Let alone arresting him for charges that he no longer have."

"B-But sir!"

"Lieutenant, what's your name?"

"U-Um, Lieutenant Lore, sir!"

"Lore, as of now, you are hereby demoted to Private and detained to the barracks until further notice."

"W-What?!"

"Am I clear, Private?"

"… Yes sir…" Lore muttered, before turning to Ember with a scowl as he walks away, his partner getting back up and following behind.

James sighs as he walked over to Ember who is leaning on the wall with his hand rubbing his back, "I'm terribly sorry for my men's actions. I can assure you that I'll update your information to them as soon as I am able."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Are you okay? I could send a medical officer if you require-"

"No, I'm good." Ember tells him, "Nothing a cold press can't fix."

"Thanks for your intervention, Mr. Ironwood." Moon thanked him.

"It's my job, Ms. Bellflower." He greeted her, "Been a while since we last met. Is your father doing well?"

"Oh, he's well enough." She stated, "Lost a lot of contact numbers, though…"

"I would believe so. Arktiz is definitely the type to do that." James chuckles.

"We definitely need to get Ember to the nurse office." Raine stated as he slaps him in the back hard, the Faunus flinched in pain, "In case there's any lasting damage."

"I agree. Any injury to the back will have lasting effects." Akai pointed out, "Best if you check before it happens."

"Relax, I'm fine-Grk!" He flinched when he tries to straighten up, "Yup… just dandy…"

"Just go to nurse." Moon tells him as she pulls him along, the rest of the team following suit. Raine looked back at the general for a moment before following after them. As James watched them leave, Ozpin walked up to him with Glynda behind him, "Answer me this, Oz." He asked, "Do you honestly believe your children can win a war…?"

"…I hope they never have to."

* * *

"Okay, looks like nothing's broken…" The nurse said as she looked over Ember's back behind the curtains, "Do you feel any numbness on your legs?" He shook his head, "Right, everything seems to be in order. A bit of bruising but other than that, you're fine."

"That's what I told them…" He groaned as he put back his shirt.

"They have the right to be worried." She tells him, "Back injuries are the most common idea that brought most Huntsmen to their early retirement."

"I know my own body, miss."

"I know you do." She smiled.

Ember left the office, the rest of team RAEM standing there anxious for the result, "…Only bruising. I'm fine!"

"You sure?!" Moon walked up to him worriedly, "No headaches? No loss of motion? No-"

"Calm down, Moon." Raine sighed, "If he says his fine, he's fine."

"If not, we can always drag him back to the nurse office." Akai added.

"I told you guys, I'm fine! Look, I'll prove it!" Ember jumped up and down a few times, "See? I'm okay!"

"Are you really sure-"

"And, that's where you guys stop it." Akai sighed, "It's only the first couple of weeks of the new semester. There's still some time before we got combat classes again meaning that there's plenty of time for him to rest up."

"…I guess…"

"Say, want to head to library?" Raine asked, "I've heard team RWBY manages to sneak a board game in. Wanna check it out?"

"Sure, I've got nothing much to do today anyway." His partner shrugged her shoulder.

"I kind of need to review my notes too…" Moon stated, "Mr. Oobleck's lessons are the easiest to catch up too…"

"Me with Professor Port's." Ember stated.

"So it's settled!" Raine said with a triumph smile, "Let's go!"

"No need to announce it out loud, Raine." Akai sighed as they make their way to the library.

* * *

In the library, team RWBY sat around the table playing the board game, Remnant: The Game. The four girls all looked at each other intensively with cards in their hands, well the two sisters are. Weiss is confused by the whole thing despite being several minutes into the game already and Blake is completely distracted by something else.

"Hmmm… All right… All right! Yang Xiao Long, prepare your Kingdom for battle!" Ruby shouted pointing at her sister.

"Bring it on!"

"I deploy the Atlesian Air Fleet!" She slams a card onto the table hard, Yang flinched in mock horror, "Looks like I get to fly over your Ursai and attack your walls directly!" She declared as she makes flying noises while making a bird puppet with her fingers.

"You Fiend!"

"Annnnnddddd… since Atlas is a part of Mantle, my repair time is only one turn!"

Yang gives an arrogant laugh as her sister looked in surprise, "Pretty sneaky, sis, but you just activated my trap card!" She stated flipping up a card and slamming it on the board, "Giant Nevermore! If I roll a seven or higher, fatal feathers will slice your fleet in two!"

"BUT, if you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces!"

"That's just a chance I'm willing to take."

As their game goes on, JNPR is seen on the table next to them doing their own thing while ignoring the girls' little game. Ren is reading while Nora sleeps on the other side of the book, obviously really deep in sleep as her friend flipped the page over onto her head without a care. Jaune was reading a comic before Pyrrha confiscates it and replaced it with his textbook, the blonde knight grumbles slightly reading into the book while his partner gleefully reads the stolen goods.

"Have you no heart…?" Ruby moans as she just lost a lot with her turn and Yang's counter move.

"Well, Weiss, it's your turn." Yang tells her teammate.

"I have… absolutely no idea what's going on."

"Look, it's easy!" She tells her as she slides up to the heiress, "You're playing as Vacuo which means that all Vacuo-based card comes with a bonus."

"That sounds dumb." She stated.

"See, you've got Sandstorm, Desert Scavenge…" She shuffles her cards around in her hand, "Oh, oh!" She shows Weiss the card she picked, "Resourceful Raider! Now you can take Ruby's discarded Air Fleet and put IT into your hand!"

"O…kay…?"

"And since Vacuo warriors have an endurance against Natural-based hazards, you can use Sandstorm to disable MY ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate my Kingdom!" She then points a finger at her, "Just know that I will not forget this declaration of war."

"And that means…?"

"You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant!" Ruby groans.

"Y-Yes!" Weiss cheers getting on her feet, "Fear the almighty power of my forces! Cower as they pillage your homes and weep as they take your children from your very arms!"

"Trap card."

"Huh…?"

Yang shuffles the pieces on the board till Weiss pieces are gone, "Your armies have been destroyed."

Weiss slumps over in her chair slightly crying, "I hate this game of emotions we play…"

Ruby leaps into her lap, "Stay Strong, Weiss! We'll make it through together!"

"Don't touch me…"

"Alright, Blake, you're up!"

"Huh?" She regains her bearing, "Oh, um, sorry, what am I doing…?"

"You're playing as Vale, trying to conquer the Kingdoms of Remnant!"

"R-Right…"

"Hey! Can I play?" Jaune asked as he walked up to their table.

"Sorry, Jaune. We already got four people." Ruby tells him.

"Besides, this game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt you possess." Weiss added with a scoff.

"Uuh… you attacked your own naval fleet 2 turns ago." Yang pointed out, the heiress makes an annoyed sound in response.

"Bring it on, Ice Queen!" Jaune taunted, "I'll have you know that I have been told that I am a natural born leader!"

"By who? Your mother?" The heiress scoffed.

"A-And Pyrrha!"

"Hello again!"

"Come on, let me play your hand for a turn!" He begged.

"I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo!" She stated.

"So when were you the governor of Vacuo?" A voice asked, Raine walking up towards them with Akai behind him, "You do realise that it's just a game, right…?"

"Hey, Raine!" Ruby greeted, "Wanna play? You could have my hand."

"I could… but that depends." He stated, "Who got the Mistral deck?"

"Yang."

"Ah, then I'll rather take the Vale deck." He stated, "I'm a pro using that."

"Oh really? I don't remember you winning before." Yang stated with a smirk.

"Oh please, that's because Nexus is the one that keeps beating you first."

"Want to bet on that?"

"Winner have to buy the other drinks?"

"You're on." The two smirked as they shake their hands. Akai rolled her eyes at the childish nature of her leader.

"Hey, where's Ember and Moon?" Jaune asked.

"Oh, they're studying at a different table." Raine stated.

"Sup, losers." A voice joked as Sun walked up to them with his friend Neptune following behind.

"Hey, Sun!" Ruby greeted.

"Ruby, Yang, Blake, Akai, Raine… Ice Queen."

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?!" Weiss cried.

"I never got a chance to formally introduce you to a good buddy of mine."

"Aren't libraries for reading?" Neptune asked.

"THANK YOU!" Ren cried happily.

"Snrk! Pancakes!" Nora snorted in her nap.

"Shut up. Don't be a nerd." Sun groaned.

"Geh, geh, geh, geh! [Intellectual], okay? Thank you." He stated, "I'm Neptune."

Weiss looked at him with a bashful smile, "So, Neptune, where are you from?"

"Haven." He walks up the heiress, "And I don't believe I've caught your name, snow angel."

"Oh! Um, I'm Weiss…"

"Ah, that's your type." Raine chuckles.

"Shut up."

"Pleasure to meet you." Neptune greeted, giving her a handsome smile.

"Hey, Akai, sorry for what happened a few days ago…" Sun nervously chuckles.

"You mean when you ditched me at the port?" She stated.

"Yeah, that. Look, I'll make it up to you." He takes out a banana, "What do you say? Bygones be bygones?"

"Hmph… I'll think about it." She tells him taking the offered banana.

"Oh, and Blake!" Sun moves towards the cat Faunus, "I never took you as the board game playing type."

"Right, well, I think I'm actually done playing." She stated getting out of her seat and walking off, pushing Sun aside in the process, "I'll see you guys later." She walks past Ember with a couple of books in his hands and Moon next to him, the fox Faunus looked at her confused.

"Geez… moody much…?" Raine wonders.

"She probably have a lot on her mind." Akai stated, "With what happened last semester and all."

"I… have to go…" Ember stated leaving the library, leaving Moon there with her books in her hands, looking at him walking off with a worried expression on her face.

"So, you're Akai, huh?" Neptune stated sliding up to her, she recoiled back in disgust. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. And must I say you are one of the most glorious person I have ever laid eyes on."

"W-Wha-…?!" Weiss looked in shock.

"T-Thanks for the compliment…" She muttered as she took a couple steps back, "Mind moving away. You're a little close."

"Neptune, what did I tell you?" Sun stated.

"I know, I know." He tells him, "I'm simply complimenting her."

"Yeah… I better get going too…" Akai stated as she walked off, leaving Neptune looking a little stunned.

"Hey, Jaune! Wanna play?" Raine asked as he picked up Blake's cards, "You can be Vacuo!"

"Isn't Weiss…?"

"You can have a turn…" Weiss muttered as she left her seat sulking away into another table.

Jaune looked at his friend, Raine just shrugged his shoulders in confusion.

* * *

Once he left the library, he took to the one place that Blake would go besides the library, her own dorm room. As soon as he reached, he knocked on the door a couple of times, "Blake, you there? It's me, Ember."

"…What do you want?"

"You're worried about the White Fang, aren't you?"

"…Yeah? And what of it?"

"The White Fang isn't yours or my problem anymore, Blake." He tells her, "It isn't since we left."

"That's not true and you know it!" Blake shouted, "What happened at the docks, that's not what the White Fang would normally do. Something's up, and we don't know what and that's just… GAH! Infuriating!"

"Blake. You left the White Fang." He stated once more, "Anything they do isn't your problem anymore, so stop thinking that it is."

"No, it is!" She shouted, "Why can't you understand that?! You, the one that has been waging war on them since you left, should understand that!"

"I know, but my ways isn't right." He stated, "Sure, I've stopped them time to time, but they just regroup and try again. It never ends, Blake. I don't want you to follow that dark path."

"…Just leave me alone."

Ember sighs, "Fine." He starts to walk off then notices Ivory standing there looking at him a bit startled. She glanced around before stepping back a little, "Is there something you want?"

"Y-Yeah… actually, I wanted Akai's help…" She mutters.

"Akai…?"

"I can't believe this!" They then notices the rest of the RWBY and RAEM walking down the hallway with Yang a little pissed.

"Told you I'm a pro with the Vale deck!" Raine chuckles as he opened a can of soda and taking a sip of it, "Ah~ Victory never tasted this fruity!"

"Tch, that's just a lucky break and you know it!" The blonde brawler shouted.

"Oh please, everyone knows that despite having the most trap cards, the Mistral deck isn't really all that great." He laughed, "Especially with Vale's anti-trap cards. You just got served and you know it." He then took notice of Ivory and Ember standing outside of RWBY's dorm. "Oh? That's an unusual pairing."

"Ivy? What are you doing here?" Ruby asked, "Isn't your room down the halls?"

"Oh, I, um… wanted to see Akai about something…" She stated.

"Me?" Akai looked at her surprised, "What would you need me, for?"

"I-It's… um… private…"

"If it's love advice, don't." Raine pointed out, only to get knocked on the head by Weiss behind him.

"Okay, I guess we can talk somewhere else?" She stated.

"O-Our room should suffice." Ivory nodded as she leads Akai away, Raine already following her along with Moon and Ember, "What are you doing?" The assassin asked annoyed.

"What? I want to know." Raine stated.

"S-Sorry, I don't want to bother you my personal problems." The Faunus sniper stated.

"And Akai?"

"She's… kind of knee-deep in this already…"

"Sure…" He rolled his eyes, "Look, is it about what happened with the weapon shop last semester? If it is, I'm joining in. There's no way I'm letting my partner get drag in into a mess with gangs and mafia members."

"Siege isn't exactly mafia, Raine." Ember pointed out, "Or gangs, at that matter."

"Either way, I'm in, where you like or not."

"U-Um…"

"Let him, Ivory…" Akai sighed, "He's the type that gets himself into dangerous situations regardless of our consent or not. You can look at last semester for that."

"That's much is true." Moon nodded, "And we want in too! No matter what it is, we're doing this as a team!"

"Wait, does that mean me too?" Ember asked, Moon glares at him angrily, "F-Fine! I'm in!"

"See?"

"…I guess…" Ivory sighs a little, "Come on, we can discuss it in my room."

"Please not let it be another White Fang issue…" Ember mutters, "I have enough on my plate already."

* * *

"God damn it!"

"Ember, relax." Raine tells him.

"Relax?! How did I expect to relax when what we're dealing with the White Fang?!" He shouted, "AGAIN!"

"Well, technically, Siege is just a smuggler that just happens to work with the White Fang." Ivory pointed out.

"Same thing!" He shouted, "First Blake, and now you?! Does every female Faunus we know have to be related to the White Fang?!"

"Fenier isn't part of the White Fang." Torque pointed out.

"I know, and I'm thankful for that."

Team RAEM is now in LIGT's room, they all standing or seating around the floors or beds as Ivory spills her secret along with her connections with the White Fang. Moon was quite shocked to hear it but Ember took it the worst as proven with the results of his shouting.

"Ember, just hear her out." Leaf stated, "Besides, you were part of the White Fang once too, weren't you?"

"Huh? How do you know that?" Ember asked, "I've only told mine and Blake's teams."

"Oh, Raine told me."

He glares to his leader, the swordsman just raised his hands up in surrender, "It just slips out, I swear!"

Ember sighs in defeat, "Fine… what is it?" He asked.

"After that last bout last semester, Siege's trail has gone cold." She stated, "I need to find him but I have no other means of gathering information about him. That's why I needed your help, Akai."

"Mine? What for?" She asked.

"You're an assassin, right?" Ivory stated, "You must have contacts about many known criminals across remnant. You can asked them for information about him! Then I might be able to find a trail again!"

"That's, unfortunately, isn't possible for Siege." Ember pointed out, "From my time with the White Fang, I've only seen him once or twice. He gets the goods, deliver it, and then disappear. It's his modus operandi. I doubt anything can be said about him."

"Not only that, the news have no coverage about him at all." Raine stated, "Remember what happens after? Robbery happened, yes, but there's no report on him, only on that mercenary and the Hooded Vigilante."

"Wait, that's it!" Leaf said understanding it, "That's how he smuggles them!"

"Huh?" Everyone looked at him curiously.

"The robbery is the cover, a distraction so to speak." He added on, "With everyone's eyes on the robbery, behind the scenes, he steals the goods and leaves the scene. All the camera footage will be on the robbers so he'll remains anonymous the whole time! He then loads the goods elsewhere, and delivers it to the White Fang!"

"…It kind of make quite a bit of sense…" Ember stated.

"That would explains what he was doing at the robbery." Ivory stated.

"So, we look for robberies on weapon shops, we can get a lead!" Torque stated happily, "Awesome, let's do that!"

"We'll discuss the plans tomorrow." Akai stated, "Any place we can use for a meeting place?"

"There's the gardens at the back of campus." Gamma stated, "Hardly anyone goes there."

"Then it's settled, then." Raine nodded, "Let's meet up as soon as school ends. We'll begin the operation in the evening."

…

_To be continued…_

* * *

**And done! Finally, it's finished! Volume Two has officially started! I originally wanted to have RAEM getting mixed with the canon story but as I wrote out Ivy's arc, I found a better target. I mean, Akai is already involved somewhat so might as well use it as the one of the main plots for this volume.**

**Trust me, I have a lot planned for this volume, many little arcs that I planned since volume one.**

**Also, I have read some of the reviews and I wanted to apologize for putting BLAZ on the side since their creation. I wanted to use them but never really got a reason to use them. But don't worry, this volume would see them in action. They would be use as side characters but I'll use them nonetheless.**

**With that, I thank you all for reading this!**


	22. Chapter 20

'Thoughts'

"Talking"

_Other's thoughts/Skills_

[Captions]

**Chapter 20 Start the Operation**

* * *

Leaf snored behind his textbook left opened to barricade him from Peter Port's view as he once again brought up a story of his own youth once more. His partner reading through the plans that she came up with for their team earlier that day. "Okay… I guess we could use something for this… But who do we send…?"

"Zzz…"

"…You could have wake up you know…" She mutters annoyingly. She sighs as she closed her scroll. "…That's all we could do for now…" She turns to her partner, Leaf slightly drooling onto the table with his silent snores.

The bell then rings, just as Peter is about to reach a high point in his story, "Oh. Must have timed that wrong…" He mutters as the students start to leave the room, "Well, the stunning conclusion to this story will have to wait. Until next time!"

"Leaf, come on, we got to go!" Ivory shakes her partner, Leaf snorted a little before waking up and stretching himself awake.

"Is it over…?" He yawned.

"Yeah! Let's go!" She tells him as she drags him out of the classroom, Brock eyes glancing at them as they left.

* * *

At the gardens, team RAEM along with Torque and Gamma are waiting for their remaining members to arrive, Ember tapping his foot on the floor irritatingly, "What's keeping them?"

"They are the ones with the latest classes, you know." Gamma tells him, "And Professor Port loves to drag on his lessons at times."

"And Leaf is probably napping throughout all of that." Torque added.

"That I can agree on." Raine chuckles.

"I'm surprised that everyone changed their own outfits today." Moon pointed out, "I guess we all have the same idea."

Every one of them have a different outfit than their usual ones today.

Raine is wearing a grey turtleneck with long-cyan-sleeves under a black hooded shirt that has blue sleeves zipped up with breast pockets with white rims and metal buckles, black slacks that has his symbol printed on the right thigh in dark blue, tucked inside a pair of white boots with grey straps and buckles, a pair of black fingerless gloves on his hands and his swords strapped to his side.

Akai wore a red denim jacket with metallic cross zippers on its sleeves over a white turtleneck that covers up to her ribcage that has her cross symbol above her left breast in black, black shorts and brown combat boots that reaches her knees which has leather paddings near the Achilles tendons and shins as well as black soles, her rifle strapped behind her.

Ember has an amber jacket that reaches just to his ribs left opened that has a metal chain connecting the collar over a white turtleneck zipped shirt that has his symbol on its back in metal, black pants that has a couple of belts on his right shin and left thigh and black leather shoes, his two sword hung behind him instead of his sides.

Moon choose a light blue oriental robes under a white jacket with her symbol in green on the right shoulder with a white belt with green rims holding it together, white skirt with bellflower patterns with black stockings underneath and her armoured boots, her hair in a long braid on her back reaching down her back and a black glove on her left arm with her weapon in its bracelet form.

Gamma changes into a grey long-sleeved shirt under a dark brown short-sleeved jacket with a black beanie on his head with symbol as a badge on it, his scarf still around his neck partially covering his face, black slacks with silver boots with metal plates at the toes and heels, his metal chain still hangs out from his pocket, his twin spears strapped behind him.

Torque wears a blue shirt with a silver zipper and orange patch at the chest area under a white hooded vest with red strings and brown rims, black pants with its lines rather profound as his rat tail protrude out from behind with brown boots, his weapon tied around his waist.

"Heh, got some new threads from that shopping trip, so why the heck not?" Raine stated.

"Plus, we wouldn't be as obvious as our old outfits." Akai added.

"Sorry we're late!" A voice called out, Ivory running towards them and Leaf in tow, both in new outfits as well.

Leaf changed to a more casual style, a green long-sleeved shirt under a black short-sleeved hoodie zipped up partway with his necklace out in display, a pair of dark blue pants with a green belt that has white rims around his waist and black shoes with straps and a leaf symbol on the sides. His weapon still slung on his back.

Ivory choose a more stealth approach, forgoing less armour as shown with a her white hoodie now with only armour around her shoulders over a black turtleneck shirt lined in white as well, white shorts with white boots up to her knees but left opened at the mouth, her weapon strung to her back.

"Let me guess, Leaf?" Gamma asked.

"Well, sorry for sleeping." He yawns.

"So, you got the plan?" Raine asked.

Ivory nodded as she opens her scroll to a page, "Okay, here's what we'll do:"

"Moon will head to the CCT tower to gather information about recent robberies over the past months."

"The BAP have many branches as well as sponsored shops across Remnant." Moon nodded, "I should be able to find some data if I asked."

"Raine, Torque and Akai will ask around for rumours about any movement in the underground societies."

"I know a place where all the gang and mafia members gathered in Vale." Raine pointed out, "The owner is willing to share some insider info for a decent price."

"And I know the owner, so he should be more willing to share." Akai added.

"And why am I with you guys?" Torque asked.

"You're the heavy gun, in case a major fight break out." She tells him.

"Oh…. So I smash baddies."

"Yes, you smash baddies."

"AWESOME!"

"Leaf is going to check the warehouse district for anything suspicious."

"My dad has storages for his shop, so I know my way around." Leaf stated.

"Finally, me, Ember and Gamma will check with the White Fang."

"There's a place nearby where White Fang has monthly meetings to hand out orders and gather new recruits into their ranks." Ember stated, "I know a backdoor into one of them and maybe find him there. Or a clue, either way."

"After we gathered all we could, we meet back up here and discuss what we find." Ivory ended, "Alright. You guys all got it?"

"We got it!"

"Us too!" They all turned at the new voice, Brock and Lloyd standing around the corner with their arms folded and a pout on their faces, the mechanic tapping his feet in slight anger, "So, you guys decided to get back at that Siege guy and decided NOT to invite US?!" Brock shouted angrily walking up to Ivory, the feline sniper flinched in terror.

"I-I…"

"Brock, calm down." Lloyd tells his teammate as he stands in front of him, "We kind of overheard everything. Ivory was acting strange earlier, so we decided to follow you."

"Why didn't you tell us?!" He cried.

"Sorry, but I don't want to get you guys involved in my problems…" Ivory stated.

"Um…?" Raine pointed at his team and hers, "Kind of did that already, Ivy."

"Yeah, but they're not part of-"

"Ivy, we're coming along." Brock stated, "My co-workers are murdered because him. At the very least, let me help find some clue about him."

"And we're kind of part of it since that robbery incident." Lloyd added.

Ivory looked at them, before sighing, "Okay… since you insist…"

"So, how do we split us up now?" Gamma asked, "I doubt they could be useful in sneaking in."

"Lloyd should come with us." Akai stated, "His semblance could be useful in a bar-fight and we could his weapon for interrogation."

"I'm not sure how to feel about that…" Lloyd stated.

"I'll go with Moon then." Raine stated, "I may not have the biggest web, but I have connections with the weapon dealer market. I might be able to pinpoint something. Besides, having too many minors at that place is definitely going to attract to wrong crowd."

"What about Brock?" Moon asked.

"I can't exactly bring him with us." Ember stated, "He'll get attacked as soon as he is in sight…"

"I better go with Leaf." Brock tells him, "I know the warehouse district's layout quite well, and I just happened to know certain suspicious areas we could check out."

"Then that's settled!" Raine stated as he walked off, "Come on, Moon!"

"H-Hey! Wait up!" She cried running after him.

* * *

A short while later, Raine and Moon walked up the large tower on campus, the same large tower that lies right in the centre of Beacon, "I never got tired of how huge these things are up close." He pointed out.

"The one in Atlas is even bigger." Moon stated with a chuckle.

"Oh right. The first to be built, right?"

"Correct." She nodded, "After the Great War, Atlas build the Cross Continental Transmit System to allow the four Kingdoms to communicate with one another. It was their gift to the world."

"And to test it, they build one in Mistral first." Raine added on, "See, I know my history."

"Indeed you do." She giggled, "But I find it odd that we are calling it from here. We could have easily used the library for that."

"We could, in front of several other students around us." He stated, "Besides, in the CCT, most information transmitted are confidential. We wouldn't have to worry about leaks of information that way."

"I know you just wanted a reason to see the tower up close." Moon stated, Raine chuckles a little embarrassed.

"Why not take a picture? To commemorate the occasion." He added on as he pulls up his scroll and drags Moon close to him, "Smile!" He took the selfie, him smiling and Moon looking at him confused. "And we're done!" He checks the picture, "But, you could use a smile though. Hm…?"

He looked closely, noticing Ruby and Weiss at the background. He looked back at the CCT, the Schnee heiress entering the tower. He glanced around, noticing Ruby descending down some stairs, "What are they…?"

"Is something wrong, Raine?" Moon asked.

"I thought I saw Ruby just now…" He muttered, "You go make that call, I'll catch up." He took to a run, leaving Moon looking even more confused than before.

He walked up to the stairs, Ruby seen at the bottom with Penny of all people. She looked around cautiously before whispering into the red reaper's ears and taking off, Ruby leaving right after. "Just what are you up to…?"

* * *

Moon enters the base of the CCT tower, the central hub filled with students of Beacon and other schools as the central terminals buzzed alive as others are working with it. She glanced around before noticing a closing elevator, Weiss face seen briefly before disappearing behind the closing doors.

"Weiss…?" She walks her way to the elevator next it, the doors sliding opened allowing her to enter and closing behind her.

The monitor of the elevator blinks to life as the AI's face is shown on it, "Hello. Welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?"

"The communications room, if you would kindly."

"Absolutely. Could you please place your scroll on the terminal to verify your identity?" Moon did just as instructed, "Perfect! Thank you, Miss Bellflower."

As the elevator moves, Moon starts to look through her scroll for what she was supposed to ask for, re-reading it over and over. It soon stopped on the required floor, she stepping out and walking straight up to the central terminal of the room the similar size as the hub with several columns of monitors spreading all over the room. As soon as she reached the terminal, it buzzed to life as a holographic lady appeared in front of her.

"Welcome to Beacon Cross Continental Transmit centre. How may I help you?"

"I like to speak to the Bellflower Arms Production's headquarters in Atlas." She stated.

"Absolutely." The hologram bleeps on some imaginary buttons, "If you could head over to Terminal 4, I'll patch you through"

"Thank you, miss." Moon bowed before making her way to said terminal. She just happens to walked passed Terminal 3 when she notices Weiss is sitting on it conversing with an official in Atlas.

[If you don't mind… what may I ask is this for?] The operator asked.

"School project." Weiss tells her.

[Um… there are some sensitive documents on this list, ma'am.]

"Well, then, I'll be sure to treat them with care." She stated.

Moon glanced a bit before walking passed her and sitting down on her own terminal. The monitor buzzed on as a brunette with blue eyes clicked on the few buttons on her own terminal. [Thank you for calling the Atlas branch of-] She then took notice of the person in front of her, [Oh! Miss Bellflower. What a pleasant surprise! We never get a call from you before. Is there something you need? I could patch in your father if you want to-]

"Don't!" Moon cried, "D-Don't tell father about this call. Please."

[Very well. How may I help you, Miss Bellflower?]

"I was hoping if you could find some files for me. I have the list in here." She places her scroll in a slot on the terminal, the operator looking through the list with a raised eyebrow.

[Miss Bellflower, pardon me from asking, but why do you need these files for?]

"Oh! I-I… um… a prrooooject! Yeah! A school project!"

[But these files are highly classified Intel. We can't just share these files with anyone. Not even you, Miss Bellflower.]

"Please, Lux. I desperately need those files!" Moon begged, "I'll make it up to you! How about… additional leave days? A bonus? A raise? A promotion?"

[Whoa, whoa, Miss Bellflower! Not need for all that!] Lux looked around cautiously before clicking on a few buttons, [Look, I only done this because you asked, alright? If anyone asked, it's Gerald.]

"Thank you, Lux! Don't worry, no one would ever know!"

[You better keep that side of the bargain, Miss Bellflower. Okay, the data is transferring into your scroll now. Are you sure you don't want to patch to Mr Schnee?]

"I'm good! Thanks again, Lux." She added as the monitor turned off and she plugged out her scroll.

"You really need to know how to lie properly." Moon flinched, glancing back to Weiss's suspicious scowl, "W-Weiss! H-Hey there!" She greeted her cousin, "I didn't even see you there… I never thought you would be here of all places…"

"So? I happened to overhear that you requested classified information from your father's company." Weiss stated, "Why would you of all people need information like that? I highly doubt it's for a project."

"You're not one to talk!" Moon cried back, "You've done the same thing with your dad's company too! Don't try to lie! I've heard you!"

"T-That's different!"

"How so?!"

"It's for Blake!"

"Blake?" Weiss covered her mouth in surprise, "Weiss…? Why are you really here for?"

* * *

Raine looked across from behind a corner, where Ruby and Penny is meeting up. As soon as they starts making their way down the street, Raine followed up closely, looking like he is just wandering around. He soon reached a suitable distance where he can slightly hear their conversation.

"We were together, and then you just disappeared!" Ruby exclaimed, "Were you kidnapped?"

"Oh no! Nothing like that!" Penny assures her.

"Then, where DID you go?"

Penny is about to speak before sensing a presence and looked back, no one around to be seen. "What's wrong?" Ruby asked her worriedly.

"Oh, it's nothing…" She carries on walking as she explains her situation to her.

Raine is then seen from on the rooftops, hanging on a window's edge, "Whew. That was close." He mutters.

"Ahem!"

He looked up, a young woman in a bathrobe with a towel around her hair looking at him angrily. He nervously waved, before quickly dropping off and parkour his way back to the ground. He looked around but couldn't find either girls. "Great…" He mutters, before sounds of a megaphone being activated is heard from the central plaza.

At the plaza is a crowd of people all standing around the couple of military-style storage cases with a few android soldiers standing in front of it and several soldiers standing around in attention. On the platform in the middle of the plaza, a hologram of Ironwood materialised in front of the crowd.

"The AK-130 has been the standard security model of Remnant for several years, and they have done a fine job. Wouldn't you all agree?" The crowd clapped at his statement with said droids performing a robotic bow in response, "But… the Kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation! And FINE… Well, that's just not good enough, is it? Presenting… the Atlesian Knight-200!" The cases' doors rolled opened, revealing white, sleeker models of the original metallic droids, which proceeds to knocked down their predecessors as the audience applauded. "Smarter, sleeker, and admittedly, less scary." The said droids start posing and flexing.

Raine whistled at that, "Not bad, Atlas. Not bad."

"These models will become active later this year, but they won't be alone!"

"Oh…?"

"Now, the Atlesian military has always supported the idea of removing man from the dangers of the battlefield. However, there are still many situations that will undoubtedly require a more… human approach. So, our kingdom's greatest minds, in co-operation with the Schnee Dust Company and the Bellflower's Arm Production, are proud to introduce," The hologram disappeared into its port, before a new hologram appeared in its place, "The Atlesian Paladins!" It's one of a bipedal robotic war machine, with its piston legs to its guns for arms and rectangular cockpit.

"That's new."

"Now, we couldn't have him here today, but these mechanised battle suits will be seen defending the borders of our Kingdom within the year!"

Raine looked interested in the large mech in display, amazed at the design of the thing. He then took noticed of two armoured guards pointing something out in the distance, his eyes following to notice Penny taking into a run with Ruby close behind her, "And that's… interesting…" He raced after them just after the two soldiers.

They ran through some winding alleys, crossing a street where one of the soldiers nearly got ran over by a car. Raine took this chance to leaped and manoeuvre around the vehicle and past the soldiers, nearly catching up to them. Ruby then used her scythe to cut through a support nearby toppling the wooden crates behind her, although Raine moved passed and over the pile with relative ease.

By the time he turns over the corner, Ruby has taken Penny and zoomed down the alley in a trail of rose petals, prompting him and chase up with his own semblance as a blue blur chases after them. He nearly rushed up to them but then notices the red reaper on the road, just as a honking truck is about to hit her. "RUBY!"

At the last moment, Penny pushes Ruby out of the way and braced with her palms up forward. The truck indeed crashes into her but she remained steady on her feet while the truck pivots forward with its front wheels before gravity took over and its slams onto the road roughly.

Ruby could only stare in utter shock, "P-Penny…?"

Penny looked up at the driver, the same shopkeeper as ever, "Are you okay?"

He nodded stiffly, confused and scared of what happened just then, as of the rest of the curious passer-by who took notice of the act and are staring at the girl with a mix of curiosity and terror. Raine just stood there stunned all the while trying to make sense of what happened, just as Penny took to a run into the alleyway while Ruby gave chase. He then notices the soldiers coming and disappeared in a blur just as they arrived at the scene, looking around to find the ginger-haired girl.

Penny ran into a corner of the alley, looking around nervously while hiding her palms from view, "Penny!" Ruby cried out as she ran up to her, "Please! What's going on?! Why are you running? How did you DO that?!"

"I-I can't! E-Everything's f-f-fine!" Penny stutters, with a hiccup in every sentence, "I-I don't want to talk about it!"

"Penny, if you can just tell me what's wrong, I can help you!"

"No! No, no! You won't understand…" Penny backed away, only to stumble into a chest of another person behind her. Terrified, she's about to make to a run but was stopped when a hand grabbed onto her wrist roughly as Raine pulls her palm towards him.

"Raine?!" Ruby cried, "What are you-?!"

Raine examined her palm for a bit before nodding in understanding, "Oh. That would explains a lot of things."

"Let her go!" Ruby cried as she pries her friend's hand out of his grasp, "Penny, please, let me try! You can trust me!"

"I-I…"

"She's not going to give up it." He tells her.

Penny looked around, before nervously walked up to her, "You're my friend, right?" She asked desperately, "You promise you're my friend?!"

"I promise." She nodded.

Penny looked away for a second, before showing her palms to her, her hands scratched but instead of blood, signs of metal is seen through the scrapped areas, "Ruby… I'm not a real girl…"

"…Oh…"

…

_To be continued…_

* * *

**Yeah! We're done with this one! Honestly, I wasn't truly planning on the whole Penny is a robot reveal to include Raine but after a while, I decided to do so as it would make for an interesting confrontation. And yeah, it is pretty lazy I know…**

**But the others are planned from the start! Like Weiss and Moon. Since they both are going to use their families' connection to gather information, they are definitely going to happen upon each other.**

**Oh, I've read some of the reviews some of you left behind. There aren't pretty and can be quite harsh. But I have agree with them.**

**I'm sorry I haven't make use of BLAZ in the story since the beginning but as I go along, I find it harder to include them into the story. I've always have them as a supporting role most of the time because that's my plans for them. They have their own stories but none are relevant to the other casts as much, except with Brock since what happened in the Volume one part.**

**And yes, I didn't make much sense with this but a lot of the OC stories of this fandom doesn't really make sense in some way. Sorry if it doesn't to you.**

**But don't worry, I'll have them in use in probably between Volume two and three as a tie-in to before the Vytal Festival.**

**And the creators of the members of BLAZ, if you dropped this because your OCs don't get much use, I don't blame you guys. Once again, I'm sorry for not using them as you intended.**

**By the way, shouts out to Thalen de Valdor for PMing me. And what he told me gives me an idea.**

**I want you guys to come up with some ideas on what I should be doing for the interlude between Volume two and three. It can be anything, but nothing to drastic that might change the entire plot as a whole. You can PM me on them, or place them in the reviews.**

**I love to see what kind of things you guys come up with!**

**With that, I thank you all for reading this!**


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